Who is FBI Director nominated Kash Patel?
Kash Patel, a former national security officer, is President Donald Trump’s choice for FBI director.
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration continues to remove top FBI officials. One former acting director and other senior leaders reportedly were kicked out of the country’s finest federal law enforcement agencies.
One of those exiled is Brian Driscoll, a former acting FBI director who, on January 6, 2021, identified FBI agents who investigated the attack on the Capitol and refusal to implement the Trump administration’s orders to potentially fire them.
The investigation examined President Donald Trump’s potential role in the attack as he tried to take office after losing to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Another senior official forced to do so was Steve Jensen, head of the FBI’s Washington, D.C. field office. In a letter to a colleague on August 7, disclosed by MSNBC, Jensen said he was notified the night before, “On August 8, 2025, my employment with the FBI will be effective tomorrow.”
According to MSNBC, both men sent messages to their colleagues saying they were notified on Friday, August 8th that it was their last day at the station.
“I understand that there may be many questions about why I don’t have an answer right now,” Driscoll said in his notes about his expulsion, MSNBC said. “At this point, the cause is not clear. Please know that serving with our customers is an honor in my life.”
Driscoll was appointed acting director on behalf of Christopher Wray in January, serving as FBI director Kash Patel during the Senate confirmation process. He made headlines to resist the Trump administration’s demands and take over the names of agents from across the country who took part in the January 6th investigation.
“Our collective sacrifice for those we serve is worth it,” Driscoll also said in his farewell note, MSNBC reported. “I have no regrets about anything.”
Veteran counterterrorism agent Driscoll recently led the department’s hostage rescue team and served as acting director for key incident response groups that respond quickly to the rapid movement of crisis situations.
Special agents Walter Jardina and Christopher Meyer who were working on the FBI incident involving Trump were also forced, The New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the issue.
The Times said they worked on a case in which Giardina’s wife died of cancer last month and sent Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro to prison.
USA Today was unable to independently review HR actions.
The FBI declined to comment when asked about reported outcasts. This has been chasing other well-known HR purges under Patel and assistant director Dan Bongino for the last few months.
The FBI under Trump has moved to aggressively demote, reallocate or push many agents out of their positions at FBI headquarters and field offices across the United States despite claims that Patel would not politicize the department.
Asked if he would pursue FBI officials and agents at a confirmation hearing in January, Patel promised that under his watch the FBI would “no politicization” or there would be retaliation.
“Senator, my answer is simply that I never do anything unconstitutional or illegal, and I have never had it in government services for 16 years,” Patel said.
Shortly afterwards, a leading Senate Democrat said that he “may have committed perjury” when testifying that Patel had no idea about the removal of the FBI’s top officials that had already begun.
“We’re a sought-after,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, a top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.
Patel was identified along the party line.
Another veteran FBI agent, Michael Feinberg, was told that in a long-standing Trump Russia investigation by the FBI, which considered the Kremlin interference in the 2016 election, he was told to accept resignation or relegation during a scrutiny of friendship with lead agents.
Other agents at headquarters and field offices were evicted, demoted, or reassigned after being linked to an investigation that touched Trump.
The FBI Agents Association said “we are deeply concerned about reports that FBI Special Agents – Case Agents and Senior Leaders will be fired immediately without a legitimate process to investigate potential federal crimes.”
“Agents were not given the option to select and select cases, and these agents performed the assignments with professionalism and integrity,” the association said in a statement. “The most important thing is that they followed the law.”
The Agents Association said there should be a review process that will take place when employment measures are taken against agents, and that “it was established to remain independent and apolitical.”
“The FBI leadership has committed to the public and directly to the FBIAA – they will avoid following that process. We urge them to respect that commitment and follow the law.
