Former national security adviser John Bolton called on the Senate to reject President-elect Trump's nomination of Kash Patel to head the FBI, likening the move to Joseph Stalin's reign of terror.
Bolton, who served in the first Trump administration, issued a statement to NBC News about the selection. “Meet the Press” anchor Kristin Welker shared the comments in a post on the X show Sunday morning.
“Trump named Kash Patel his Lavrenti” [sic] Beria,” the statement reads. “Fortunately, the FBI is not the NKVD. [People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs]. ”
“The Senate should vote 100-0 to reject this nomination,” Bolton added.
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Former National Security Adviser John Bolton likened Kash Patel to Lavrenti Beria, head of the Soviet secret police under Stalin. (Getty Images/Reuters)
Bolton's statement referred to Lavrenty Beria, the head of the Soviet secret police under Stalin. Beria is one of the most notorious figures in Russian history, organizing and carrying out widespread surveillance, repression, ethnic purges, and terrorism under Stalin's rule.
The prospect of an outsider being appointed to head the FBI sent shockwaves across Washington over the weekend. President Trump announced the nomination Saturday night, praising Patel as “a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and 'America First' fighter.”
Patel served as the National Security Council's senior counterterrorism director during the first Trump administration. He is a Trump supporter and is expected to carry out sweeping reforms within the FBI if confirmed.
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Reporters follow Kash Patel as he leaves a deposition for the House committee investigating the January 6 attack in Washington, DC, on December 9, 2021. (Getty Images)
“I'm shutting down the Sean Ryan Show,” Patel said in an interview on “The Sean Ryan Show” in September. fbi hoover building On the first day it reopens as a museum of the deep state, and the next day it reopens as a museum of the deep state. ” He also wrote the book “Government Gangsters: The Deep State, Truth, and the Fight for Democracy.''
Patel is not the first to criticize Bolton's nomination by President Trump. On an episode of “Meet the Press NOW” in November, Bolton said President Trump's withdrawn nomination of Matt Gaetz to be U.S. attorney general was “the worst Cabinet nomination in American history.”
The nomination of Kash Patel, an ardent supporter of President-elect Trump, received fierce reaction Saturday from conservatives and liberals. (Getty Images)
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“The new Senate leadership should tell the president-elect that he is putting Republican senators at risk by forcing a vote in favor of Gaetz's nomination. Leadership should insist that this nomination be withdrawn. ” Bolton said at the time.
