WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 The FBI agents who searched Donald Trump鈥檚 Mar-a-Lago estate found boxes of classified documents in his office and storage room and retrieved sensitive government secrets about nuclear systems and weapons capabilities.
One person unmoved by the gravity of the allegations: Kash Patel.
Days after Trump鈥檚 June 2023 indictment on charges of hoarding the documents, Patel insisted to listeners of his 鈥淜ash鈥檚 Corner鈥 podcast that Trump was permitted under a law known as the Presidential Records Act to take classified records with him when he left the White House.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e president and you leave, you can take whatever you want,鈥 Patel said, advancing an argument later adopted by Trump鈥檚 lawyers but dismissed as meritless by the Justice Department. 鈥淎nd when you take it, whether it鈥檚 classified or not, it鈥檚 yours.鈥
It鈥檚 but one example of how Patel positioned himself as a steadfast Trump loyalist well before the . An Associated Press review of more than 100 podcasts that Patel hosted or on which he was interviewed over the last four years reveals how Patel has habitually denigrated the , sowed doubt in the criminal justice system, criticized the decision-making of the institution he鈥檚 been asked to lead and
The vast catalog of provocative public statements, sometimes made in the company of like-minded FBI antagonists, provides an unusually extensive record of a nominee鈥檚 unvarnished and controversial worldviews. At his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday, Democrats are likely to seize on Patel鈥檚 often explosive 鈥 and conspiracy-riddled 鈥 commentary, which is unprecedented in volume, tone and substance for a potential FBI leader. While those critics say his views make him unfit for the job, his supporters argue the FBI needs someone as brash as Patel to shake up the agency.
Asked to respond to his comments, Patel spokeswoman Erica Knight said the nominee 鈥渓ooks forward to his upcoming hearing as an opportunity to highlight his extensive experience and present the truth to the American people in a comprehensive and meaningful way.鈥
The AP鈥檚 review found that Patel frequently expressed the same views 鈥 or iterations of them 鈥 on various podcasts:
鈥楪补苍驳蝉迟别谤蝉鈥
鈥淭hose same criminal gangsters at the FBI and DOJ are running this Mar-a-Lago raid investigation,鈥 Patel said in August 2022 on his show, 鈥淜ash's Corner,鈥 for , a pro-Trump media company that has been a key online supporter of the president and spreader of conspiracy theories.
"Gangsters鈥 is a favored Patel term for federal investigators he perceives as tainted by anti-Trump bias. It鈥檚 even part of the title of his 2023 book, 鈥淕overnment Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth and the Battle for Our Democracy.鈥
Patel has sought to distinguish his dim view of the FBI's leadership, direction and decision-making from what he says is his support for the rank-and-file. But his harsh rhetoric about the bureau could nonetheless create an awkward dynamic if he鈥檚 confirmed to lead the 38,000-person premier federal law enforcement agency.
The name-calling in this instance 鈥 he鈥檚 also called intelligence officials 鈥渂ozos鈥 and 鈥淢uppets鈥 鈥 is consistent with Patel鈥檚 scathingly critical perspective of the investigations into Trump's and his retention of classified documents at his Florida resort after he left office.
Trump faced felony charges in the two cases, but after he won the November election because of Justice Department policy prohibiting the federal prosecution of a sitting president.
Patel鈥檚 reference to investigators as the 鈥渟ame criminal gangsters鈥 is part of a persistent effort to draw a straight line between the documents probe and a 2016 , notwithstanding significant differences in FBI and Justice Department personnel in the two inquiries.
Patel rocketed to prominence as a House staffer through his criticism of the Russia investigation, which he鈥檚 dubbed 鈥渙ne of the biggest conspiracies ever perpetuated against a presidential candidate and then president." He's made a name for himself in MAGA circles by seeking to expose what he has described as misconduct in how the probe was pursued. and a identified significant flaws with that investigation, though neither presented evidence that partisan bias had guided specific decisions.
鈥楤aseless prosecutions鈥
鈥淲e need to really educate the world on the weaponization of justice that occurred on January 6th,鈥 Patel said in January 2024 on 鈥淭he Alec Lace Show," as he called the prosecutions of U.S. Capitol rioters 鈥渂aseless."
arising from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and many of them pleaded guilty to serious crimes. The recently departed FBI director, Christopher Wray, and has called the attack emblematic of a rapidly growing threat of homegrown extremism.
Patel, like Trump, has taken a different view, saying the rioters have been mistreated by the criminal justice system. A former federal public defender and prosecutor, he has called them 鈥減olitical prisoners鈥 and offered on at least one occasion to represent them for free.
Patel will almost certainly be asked if he supports Trump's to all Jan. 6 defendants. The pardons, sentence commutations and indictment dismissals upended the largest investigation in Justice Department history, benefiting even those found guilty of violent attacks on police, along with leaders of far-right extremist groups who plotted to keep Trump in power.
Patel's support for the defendants has included more than just rhetoric. , 鈥淛ustice for All,鈥 that was recorded over a prison phone line, sung by a group of Jan. 6 defendants and overlaid with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
鈥淭he powerful thing about it,鈥 he said in a 2023 podcast, 鈥渋s the people who have been impacted most are the ones raising awareness.鈥
He's also talked up a right-wing conspiracy theory that , an Arizona man arrested in connection with Jan. 6, was actually an undercover operative for the FBI 鈥 something Epps has adamantly denied and prosecutors have described as false.
And he's been openly skeptical about the FBI鈥檚 use of confidential informants related to Jan. 6 at a time when conspiracy theorists have suggested, inaccurately, that the bureau helped instigate the violence.
said in a report last month that no undercover FBI agents were in the crowd on Jan. 6, and that though more than two dozen FBI informants were in Washington that day, none was tasked by the FBI with entering the building or breaking the law.
鈥楬old him in contempt in a jail cell鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 up to Congress, who has law enforcement capabilities, to go out there, arrest Chris Wray and hold him in contempt in a jail cell until the document鈥檚 produced,鈥 Patel said on 鈥淜ash鈥檚 Corner鈥 in June 2023.
Patel in recent years has mused about the idea of Wray, who , being arrested for the FBI's failure to promptly turn over records subpoenaed by Congress 鈥 an outcome he's acknowledged as extreme but one he contends would befall less prominent people who ignored lawmaker demands for documents.
That position could come back to haunt Patel, particularly if Democrats take back a chamber of Congress in 2026.
He's also suggested that Congress could withhold or restrict 鈥減ockets of money鈥 to induce cooperation with its document demands.
鈥淵ou ground Chris Wray's private jet that he pays for with taxpayer dollars to hop around the country. You take away the fancy new fleet of cars from DOJ that they鈥檙e going to use to shuffle around executives,鈥 he said in 2023 on 鈥淜ash鈥檚 Corner." 鈥淵ou stop the construction of new buildings.鈥
What will a Director Patel say if Democrats push to limit funding for his flights on FBI jets?
'There'll be an investigation into members of Congress'
鈥淥nce President Trump hopefully gets back in power, there鈥檒l be an investigation into members of Congress who destroyed and withheld evidence from law enforcement agencies," Patel said in March 2024 on "In the Litter Box w/ Jewels and Catturd."
has raised alarms he could direct the FBI to target Trump's adversaries, even though long-established FBI guidelines are meant to protect against investigative abuses and require that criminal inquiries be rooted in a legitimate purpose.
Like Trump, Patel has channeled particular ire toward the . He told Catturd, a right-wing social media personality whose real name is Phillip Buchanan, that a Trump victory could result in investigations of lawmakers who have committed 鈥渇ederal felonies鈥 and 鈥渃overed up the truth from the American people.鈥
That rhetoric wasn't lost on former President Joe Biden, who on his final day in office preemptively pardoned members of that committee, as well as and retired .
Fauci and House lawmakers are just some of the targets Patel has excoriated. His book includes a list of people he identifies as 鈥渕embers of the Executive Branch Deep State,鈥 including former Attorney General William Barr 鈥 鈥 and Andrew McCabe, and a top figure in the Russia investigation.
Ahead of Thursday鈥檚 hearing, Senate Judiciary Democrats circulated a social media post that they said Patel shared in 2022 in which he was depicted as taking a chainsaw to news organizations and high-profile members of Congress.
Democrats will make the prospect of reprisal center stage at Patel鈥檚 confirmation hearing, something they foreshadowed with pointed questions about him directed at during her own hearing this month.
When Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, asked Bondi if she would have hired someone who had an 鈥渆nemies list鈥 into her office when she was Florida attorney general, she replied: 鈥淪enator, to cut to the chase, you鈥檙e clearly talking about Kash Patel. I don鈥檛 believe he has an enemies list.鈥
鈥楾oilet rag disinformation animal鈥
A 鈥渢oilet rag鈥 is how Patel described Vice Media on a podcast when it declared bankruptcy two years ago. He has frequently attacked media organizations and reporters, accusing them of publishing 鈥渇ake news.鈥 He has also threatened reporters with serious consequences for crossing Trump.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections,鈥 Patel told , a Trump ally who served four months in prison for defying a congressional subpoena and who has also warned about retribution against Trump adversaries, in December 2023.
Patel later backed off some of his statements about the media, that reporters are 鈥渋nvaluable鈥 and that his threat referred only to those who have broken the law.
But he鈥檒l face pressure from his party to go after journalists, as well as election officials and activists that Republicans have accused of crimes.
___
Associated Press Artificial Intelligence Product Manager Ernest Kung contributed to this report.
___
The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP鈥檚 democracy initiative . The AP is solely responsible for all content.
