What the Trump Nominees Have Not Done—And Will Not Do
victorhanson.com/what-the-trump-nominees-have-not-done-and-will-not-do
December 5, 2024
Victor Davis Hanson
American Greatness
Deflated by the resounding November defeat, the left now believes it can magically rebound by destroying Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees.
Many of Trump’s picks are well outside the usual Washington, DC, and New York political, media, and corporate nexus.
But that is precisely the point—to insert reformers into a bloated, incompetent, and weaponized government who are not part of it.
Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, is already drawing severe criticism.
His furious enemies cannot go after his resume, since he has spent a lifetime in private, congressional, and executive billets, both in investigations and intelligence.
Instead, they claim he is too vindictive and does not reflect the ethos of the FBI.
But what will Patel not do as the new director?
He will not serially lie under oath to federal investigators as did interim FBI Director Andrew McCabe, a current Patel critic.
He will not forge an FBI court affidavit, as did convicted felon and agency lawyer Kevin Clinesmith.
He will not claim amnesia 245 times under congressional oath to evade embarrassing admissions as former Director James Comey did.
He will not partner with a foreign national to collect dirt and subvert a presidential campaign as the FBI did with Christopher Steele in 2016.
He will not use the FBI to draft social media to suppress news unfavorable to a presidential candidate on the eve of an election.
He would not have suppressed FBI knowledge that Hunter Biden’s laptop was genuine—to allow the lie to spread that it was “Russian disinformation” on the eve of the 2020 election.
He will not raid the home of an ex-president with SWAT teams, surveil Catholics, monitor parents at school board meetings, or go after pro-life peaceful protestors.