After conservative commentator Scott Jennings defended President-elect Donald Trump's choice of Kash Patel for FBI Director, CNN host Abby Phillip dropped a truth bomb, drawing an apt comparison to the GOP's election reform crusade.
Jennings said the following about Patel, whom he suggested would restore trust and "public confidence" in the bureau:
"He's going to have to answer questions like anybody else but there is enthusiasm for him. Ten years ago, the FBI had a 59% approval rating. Today, it’s like 41%. There's a lot of restoration work that has to be done to restore public confidence in the agency."
"It probably does need a change agent, an outside change agent. The Republicans right now? They like this nomination. There's a long way to go but they like it right now."
Phillip responded:
"This is kind of like how you tell everybody that elections are rigged and then when confidence in elections goes down, we're like, 'we need to change elections.'"
When an incredulous Jennings asked her if she believes the FBI "has never made any mistakes," she answered:
"When you spend years and years telling people the FBI is corrupt, they're going to believe it."
Jennings retorted:
"They have admitted [to] corruption. There are internal reports where they've admitted, there have been FBI agents themselves who've gotten criminally in trouble. They've made mistakes."
But Phillip had an answer, mentioning a report often touted by Trump issued by special prosecutor John Durham that criticized the FBI's handling of the Russia investigation:
"I actually think that's the correct point which is that the FBI has its own process for going over their own misdeeds. They did it multiple times in the accusations Trump made about the agency, including in the John Durham report which was heralded by Republicans."
"That was an attempt to look at all of these things and he found problems. That's called a process."
You can watch their exchange in the video below.
Many concurred with Phillip's assessment and criticized Jennings' remarks.
In Patel, Trump has the perfect person to go after those he believes have wronged him.
Patel has already compiled a list of so-called "deep state" officials he believes should be targeted.
In his 2023 book, Government Gangsters, Patel names a wide array of figures in an appendix titled “Members of the Executive Branch Deep State.” The list isn’t limited to Democrats or Biden administration officials but also includes several Republicans and Trump appointees, such as Bill Barr, Rod Rosenstein, Pat Cipollone, Patrick Philbin, and special counsel Robert Hur.
Predictably, Patel also singles out current FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom Trump plans to replace, along with Democrats like White House adviser John Podesta and Vice President Kamala Harris.
President Joe Biden’s senior aides are locked in an intense internal debate over whether to issue preemptive pardons to a range of current and former public officials who could become targets upon Trump's return to the White House. The aides are increasingly alarmed about the potential for a wave of inquiries and indictments, a concern heightened by Trump’s recent appointment of Patel.
