Former Trump FBI deputy director and CNN senior law enforcement analyst Andrew McCabe said Thursday that Rogers would be a “totally reasonable, logical selection” to nominate to lead the agency, pointing to his knowledge of the intelligence community and his experience at the FBI.
CNN has reached out to the Trump transition team and the FBI for comment.
Sources previously said that Patel had been lobbying for the FBI director position, where he would be well-positioned to try to investigate Trump’s political enemies, declassify sensitive information and purge career civil servants.
He also briefly considered installing Patel as deputy FBI director in the closing weeks of his first administration.
The deputy FBI director job is a career position – not a politically appointed role – and then-Attorney General William Barr helped talk Trump out of putting Patel at the bureau at the time.
Persons:
Donald Trump, MAGA, Trump, Christopher Wray, Matt Gaetz, Mike Rogers, Kash Patel, haven’t, Andrew McCabe, Rogers, McCabe, Patel, ”, that’s, ” McCabe, Gina Haspel, –, William Barr, CNN’s Sara Murray, Zachary Cohen, Evan Perez, Pamela Brown, Kaanita Iyer
Organizations:
CNN, FBI, Michigan, Senate, Former Trump FBI, Trump
Locations:
Lago, Florida