EXCLUSIVE — Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist floated for the role of attorney general, dismissed the uproar over the former president’s “enemy from within” comments, but said if opponents break the law, they should be prosecuted.
“What the president has stated simply, whether it’s DOJ, FBI, DOD — we’re just going to stop the politicization of law enforcement, intelligence,” Patel told the Washington Examiner on Monday at a Trump campaign event in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
“It’s simple. If they broke the law, you prosecute them, criminally or civilly,” he added. “If they broke the law, use the Constitution, that’s it.”
Patel, a national security official former President Donald Trump once considered for deputy FBI director, denied there is some “revenge list.” But his comments nonetheless suggest openness to revisiting Trump’s complaints that everyone from ex-FBI Director James Comey to New York Attorney General Letitia James deserve jail time.
Trump’s comments on the “enemy from within,” made in repeated interviews this month, were in reference to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
“When you catch the speaker of the House lying about Jan. 6, when you catch an FBI director lying to a federal court for an illegal surveillance program, when you catch the CIA intel communities twisting intelligence about the origins of COVID just because they want to get a political position achieved, those are things that need to be looked at,” Patel said.
“Now, I don’t know if everyone or anyone broke the law, but if you did, why not prosecute?” he added.
Trump, for his part, has liberally suggested the arrest of political opponents, from Schiff, who led his first impeachment in the House, to ex-Rep. Liz Cheney, who chaired the Jan. 6 committee.
His calls extend to journalists who refuse to reveal the source of government leaks.
In office, Trump faced resistance to his demands for prosecution. He could face similar opposition in a second term, as Cabinet officials, including the attorney general, must be confirmed by the Senate.
But Trump allies have suggested interim appointments as a way to skirt that requirement. Matthew Whitaker held the job of attorney general in an acting capacity for 15 months after Trump pushed out his predecessor, Jeff Sessions.
Donald Trump Jr., a member of his father’s transition team, said a similar model could be used to name someone like Patel to the attorney general post.
“You almost have to just put them in as interim even, just to send that shot across the bow of the swamp, you know? Like — you want to play?” Trump Jr. said on his podcast last year.
Patel would be one of many candidates under consideration for a senior role, but then-Attorney General Bill Barr refused to appoint him as deputy director of the FBI, citing his relative inexperience for the job.
Patel, 44, served as a staffer on the House Intelligence Committee before quickly ascending the national security ranks in the Trump administration.
Like Barr, Gina Haspel, the CIA director at the time, threatened to resign when Trump entertained Patel’s appointment as deputy director for her agency.
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Patel told the Washington Examiner he has not spoken with Trump about a job, instead praising the “deep bench” Trump would have to choose from for administration posts.
“The only role I’m pursuing is to get him to Nov. 5 and winning,” Patel said. “I don’t care about anything else. If he wants to call me after, great, if not all good.”
