Stacey Young, executive director and founder of Justice Connection, released the following statement:
“We need an FBI Director who has the experience to lead the FBI and the trust of his workforce, and Kash Patel has proven he has neither. Senators from both sides of the aisle should make that clear in their questioning at tomorrow’s Judiciary Committee oversight hearing.
Good leaders surround themselves with the best people, those with unquestionable expertise who can provide a steady hand and reliable counsel during a crisis. Director Patel has decimated the top leadership at the FBI, pushing out the very people he desperately needed to save himself from embarrassment last week. Embarrassing for him, but also for all the employees who have to submit to his leadership.
Every one of those he removed from the agency – from the former acting director to his former pilot – knows not to carelessly announce the capture of a subject via social media. They know how crucial it is to speak with one voice, how quickly information changes in a high-profile investigation, and how trust is lost when you mislead the public.
Instead of sporting an FBI badge he did not earn, creating a new “Ka$h” challenge coin, and spending his time curating his prolific social media presence, Director Patel should have been listening and learning from the vast experience of the FBI’s most seasoned agents. But he can’t because he has cast out the very leaders he needs to be successful, creating a new leadership structure that punishes those willing to speak truth to power.
By refusing to push back on the White House’s directive to purge FBI agents, Director Patel has made Americans less safe, and our justice system less just. He allegedly acknowledged that his own job was on the line if he didn’t acquiesce to the President’s demands, even though he admits the firings are illegal and in direct violation of FBI’s protocols to prevent retaliation based on case assignments.
Last week should be a wake-up call.
The nation’s preeminent law enforcement agency deserves preeminent leadership ready to handle every crisis. It deserves much better than Kash Patel.”
