'over my dead body'

Tomorrow, the Senate will conduct a hearing on Kash Patel, the MAGA extremist and "deep state" conspiracist Donald Trump wants to put in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Patel has been brazen in announcing his intention to weaponize the FBI against government officials, journalists, nonprofit groups, and the American people.

Here's what Patel said on Steve Bannon's podcast:

"We're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We're going to come after you."

Numerous Republican leaders are warning against letting Patel run the FBI. And there are hundreds of news stories about how bad it would be to put Patel in charge of the bureau (or of anything, really).

But this just about says it all:

• In Trump's first term, he tried to install Patel as second-in-command at the FBI.

• That move was blocked by Bill Barr.

• Yes, that Bill Barr — Trump's hand-picked Attorney General, who was one of Trump's most reliable defenders in his first term.

• Barr said, quote, "Over my dead body."

• How unqualified and potentially calamitous must Patel be if even Bill Barr didn't want him?

One critical note when talking about the FBI: While the FBI has a vital role in maintaining the rule of law, as an institution, it also has a long, shameful, and ongoing history of discrimination, corruption, and brutality. It has persecuted everyday Americans for the "crime" of standing up to power while repeatedly letting massive criminality by billionaires and Big Business slide.

Look, we know that many MAGA senators — even though they know better — will rubber stamp Patel's nomination in groveling fealty to Donald Trump. But the Republican majority in the Senate is wafer thin. We have to try to get 51 senators to reject Kash Patel for FBI director.

By the way, as we fight to block Trump's dangerous and unqualified nominees for essential roles throughout the federal government, some people ask what happens if we defeat one person and Trump nominates someone else just as bad or even worse. The answer is simple: we fight that person too, and the one after that, and the one after that. What we don't do — what we absolutely will not do — is throw up our hands and give in. Not gonna happen.

To every United States senator:

Do not confirm Kash Patel for FBI director.

Click to add your name now.

Thanks for taking action.

For justice,

- Lisa Gilbert & Robert Weissman, Co-Presidents of Public Citizen
 
 
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