Who is FBI chief and Trump ally Kash Patel?
Former lawyer has backing of president, despite criticism that he is too quick to grandstand and has shared conspiracy theories.
FBI director Kash Patel has spoken out after four people were arrested as part of a New Year's Eve bomb plot in Los Angeles.
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The chief said on Monday that five locations in LA were targeted, while a fifth person has been arrested for "planning a separate violent attack” in New Orleans.
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Mr Patel tweeted: “Over the weekend, the FBI disrupted a credible, imminent terrorist threat and arrested FOUR individuals connected to the Los Angeles area.
"The subjects self-identified as members of a radical offshoot of the Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), an extremist group motivated by pro-Palestinian, anti-law-enforcement, and anti-government ideology.”
The Republican is an ally of Donald Trump and had previously held roles in the current president’s first term from 2017 to 2021.
Here is what you need to know.
Who is Kash Patel?
Kash Patel is an American lawyer who has served as the director of the FBI, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, since February 2025 - shortly after his ally Donald Trump took office.
Republican-aligned Mr Patel, 45, was born in New York and has been dating country singer Alexis Wilkins, 27, since 2023.
His father is Pramod Patel, a Ugandan of Gujarati Indian descent.
Pre-FBI career
Mr Patel started off as a defence attorney and rose to become defence department chief of staff and, later, federal prosecutor.
An AFP profile states that those who knew Mr Patel two decades ago called him an “ambitious but unexceptional” lawyer, and were shocked when they saw his star rise as he turned to far right podcasts and conspiracy to grow his personal brand.
Having been a supporter of Mr Trump for years, Mr Patel served various role during his first term in office. In 2020 he briefly served as deputy director of national intelligence and from February 2024 to April 2025, he was director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In 2022, he was named on the board of the Trump Media & Technology Group.
Mr Patel has written two children's books in support of Mr Trump as well as his 2023 memoir Government Gangsters, which called for an overhaul of the FBI to stop government intervention.
Within these pages, as well as other platforms, Mr Patel has written about his conspiracy theories, which include:
- A deep state is in operation, with various governmental agencies combining against individuals or ideas,
- There had been fraud in the 2020 election to stop Mr Trump from taking office,
- The QAnon theory, that a global child sex trafficking ring is operating with help form the deep state and that Mr Trump is leading the fight against them
Time in charge of the FBI
Mr Patel was appointed as director of the FBI in February, taking over from Christopher Wray - whom Mr Trump had appointed in his first term.
Under the reign of his predecessor, the bureau had faced allegations of being too harsh on Republicans and Mr Patel has been keen to limit its influence.
His appointment was not an altogether popular one, and was approved in the Senate after a 51-49 vote in favour, with three Republicans joining all Democrats in voting him down over concerns of his lack of experience and conspiracy theories.
The FBI director is below the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, but has control of 37,000 employees and 55 US field offices.
According to the New York Times, Mr Patel is considered to be an effective purveyor of directives put forward by Stephen Miller, Mr Trump’s top domestic policy advisor.
As far as criticism goes, in October, he was criticised after appearing to sack an agent trainee for displaying a gay pride flag on their desk.
Mr Patel has also become known for his Trumpian-esque capacity for tweeting regularly, often in praise of the president, and has gained a reputation for what the New York Times has called “self promoting”.
Glenn Thrush and Devlin Barrett wrote: “Patel’s impulse to seize the spotlight and publicise the work of the bureau under his leadership has revived questions about his competence and his future in the administration.
“It has added to the growing criticism over his recreational travel, his use of a SWAT team to protect his girlfriend and his handling of the Epstein files.”
The piece added: “Mr Patel, in particular, has often raced to pop new information on social media in a bid to be first. In doing so, however, he has deprived himself of the shield that subordinates provide when the information they offer turns out to be wrong.”
An example of this has been the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk, with Mr Patel announcing hours later that a suspect had been taken into custody, and only minutes later local police in Utah shared that this was not true.
Despite the controversies, Mr Patel and his deputy, the former Fox News host Dan Bongino, appear to have the backing of their president.
Mr Trump has said of him: "Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and 'America First' fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending justice, and protecting the American people.”