In not so surprising, but still disappointing, news from the United States Senate right ahead of the confirmation vote for Kash Patel on the night of Thursday, February 20, Maine’s Republican in Name Only (RINO) Senator, Susan Collins, announced that she was siding with the Department of Justice and FBI apparatchiks rather than MAGA. Namely, she announced that she would be voting against Patel and sees him as not being able to fulfill his ethical obligations and responsibility to be apolitical.
Ignored in her statement is that the FBI has developed a reputation for not being apolitical over the past years, particularly since the J6 prisoners were treated so terribly and the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. That has led to an impression amongst most MAGA voters, and many other Americans besides, that the “justice” system is incredibly corrupt and biased against them.
Representative on that front is a mid-February tweet from the “Clandestine” X account, which said, “Trump is currently purging the DOJ. All the corrupt Soros-funded US Attorneys just got axed. Just imagine what we can accomplish with a DOJ that actually hunts real criminals instead of political opponents and law abiding citizens. This is what draining the swamp looks like.”
That came alongside a post from President Trump about the politicization of the FBI and DOJ in which he indicated that Patel’s job is to clean house. He wrote, “Over the past four years, the Department of Justice has been politicized like never before. Therefore, I have instructed the termination of ALL remaining “Biden Era” U.S. Attorneys. We must “clean house” IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence. America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System – THAT BEGINS TODAY!”
So, most in MAGA see Patel’s job as cleaning out that politicization at the FBI and DOJ generally by firing the “corrupt Soros-funded US Attorneys” of the sort mentioned by Clandestine, along with similar personal throughout the department. Collins, however, voted against that by voting against Patel, and announced that decision shortly before the Thursday night vote.
In her press release statement on the matter, the RINO Senator said, “The nomination of Kash Patel to serve as Director of the FBI comes to the Senate against the backdrop of recent personnel actions at the Department of Justice, including the resignations of several career federal prosecutors who felt they were being instructed to act in a manner inconsistent with their ethical obligations. In addition, a questionnaire has been sent to thousands of FBI employees regarding their involvement in certain investigations.”
Continuing, she ignored the good reasons why Patel might be interested in knowing which FBI agents had gone along with raiding the home of the leader of the political opposition, along with similar investigations and activities. Instead, she acted as though the questions themselves were proof of Patel’s political feelings on the subject.
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Doing so, she said, “As I have stated previously, these initiatives raise the specter that adverse actions could be taken against FBI employees – including special agents in the field – who have dedicated their careers to public service and who do not choose their assignments. It is critical that any efforts to promote accountability at the FBI be carefully calibrated and not have the effect of driving away dedicated public servants who keep our country and communities safe.
She then said, “In this context, there is a compelling need for an FBI Director who is decidedly apolitical. While Mr. Patel has had 16 years of dedicated public service, his time over the past four years has been characterized by high profile and aggressive political activity. Mr. Patel has made numerous politically charged statements in his book and elsewhere discrediting the work of the FBI, the very institution he has been nominated to lead. These statements, in conjunction with the questionnaire sent to thousands of FBI employees, cast doubt on Mr. Patel’s ability to advance the FBI’s law enforcement mission in a way that is free from the appearance of political motivation.
She concluded by saying, “While I strongly support efforts to ensure all federal employees perform their responsibilities ethically and in accordance with the law, Mr. Patel’s recent political profile undermines his ability to serve in the apolitical role of Director of the FBI. Therefore, I will vote against his nomination.”
Featured image credit: Susan Collins website