Politics

ON BOARD AIR FORCE ONE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House on Monday defended President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter, and said the president believed his political opponents would have kept persecuting his son going forward.

“They would continue to go after his son,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One during a trip to Angola.

Jean-Pierre said this was not the first time a president had pardoned a family member.

Biden said in June that he would not pardon his son. In an interview with ABC News, Biden replied “yes” when asked if he would rule out pardoning Hunter.

Jean-Pierre declined to give details on why or how Biden had changed his mind.

Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in September to federal tax charges in federal court in Los Angeles and was due to be sentenced Dec. 16 under Mark C. Scarsi, a judge nominated by Republican President-elect Donald Trump. A jury found him guilty in June of making false statements on a gun background check; he was due to be sentenced for those charges this month as well.

Biden said on Sunday that his son had been selectively prosecuted and treated differently than others with similar situations.

Late on Sunday, Hunter Biden’s attorney filed to dismiss the indictments against him.

The president’s full and unconditional pardon “requires dismissal of the indictment against” Hunter Biden, the lawyer wrote in filings related to criminal tax and gun cases against him.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt on Air Force One, Jeff Mason, Heather Timmons and Susan Heavey in Washington;Editing by Alistair Bell)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday he had pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, reversing his earlier pledge to leave the legal proceedings entirely up to the judicial system.

Hunter Biden had pleaded guilty to tax violations and was convicted on firearms-related charges and faced upcoming sentencing.

The Democratic president’s pardon comes as Republican President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to go after his political opposition, prepares to take office Jan. 20:

DONALD TRUMP, Republican President-elect

“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”

MEGHAN HAYS, Democratic strategist and former senior communications aide to Biden

“With some of the nominations that Trump has put up, I think it probably caused a little bit of worry for him. But also I think people have to remember: the president lost two children already and he does not need to lose another one.”

“The president made a decision as a father to keep his son out of jail and out of harm’s way moving forward … I think that some of these nominations that Trump has been putting forward and leaving this in the hands of other folks is worrisome to the president… President(-elect) Trump and Kash Patel have said they are going to go after their political enemies, they’re going after retribution; I think that Hunter Biden has been seen as the person they’ve gone after many times, and I don’t think the president is going to leave that to chance when he leaves office.”

CHUCK GRASSLEY, Republican U.S. Senator from Iowa

“I’m shocked Pres Biden pardoned his son Hunter bc he said many many times he wouldn’t & I believed him Shame on me”

JARED POLIS, Democratic Governor of Colorado

“While as a father I certainly understand President @JoeBiden’s natural desire to help his son by pardoning him, I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country. This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation. When you become President, your role is Pater familias of the nation. Hunter brought the legal trouble he faced on himself, and one can sympathize with his struggles while also acknowledging that no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.”

ERIC HOLDER, former U.S. Attorney General under Democratic President Barack Obama

“Here’s the reality. No USAtty would have charged this case given the underlying facts. After a 5 year investigation the facts as discovered only made that clear. Had his name been Joe Smith the resolution would have been – fundamentally and more fairly – a declination. Pardon warranted. Ask yourself a vastly more important question. Do you really think Kash Patel is qualified to lead the world’s preeminent law enforcement investigative organization? Obvious answer: hell no.”

GREG STANTON, Democratic U.S. Representative from Arizona

“I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong. This wasn’t a politically-motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies, and was convicted by a jury of his peers.”

JAMES COMER, Republican chair of U.S. House Oversight Committee

“Joe Biden has lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence peddling activities. Not only has he falsely claimed that he never met with his son’s foreign business associates and that his son did nothing wrong, but he also lied when he said he would not pardon Hunter Biden. The charges Hunter faced were just the tip of the iceberg in the blatant corruption that President Biden and the Biden Crime Family have lied about to the American people. It’s unfortunate that, rather than come clean about their decades of wrongdoing, President Biden and his family continue to do everything they can to avoid accountability.”

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Heather Timmons and Andrew Heavens)

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By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday he had pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, a reversal after pledging to stay out of legal proceedings against the younger Biden who pleaded guilty to tax violations and was convicted on firearms-related charges.

“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” the president said in a statement.

The White House had said repeatedly that Biden would not pardon or commute sentences for Hunter, a recovering drug addict who became a target of Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trump.

“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son,” Biden said in a statement released shortly before leaving for a trip to Africa.

The grant of clemency said Biden had granted “a full and unconditional” pardon to Hunter Biden for any offenses in a window from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.

Hunter Biden faced sentencing for the false statements and gun convictions this month. In September he pleaded guilty to federal charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes while spending lavishly on drugs, sex workers and luxury items. He was scheduled for sentencing in that case on Dec. 16.

“I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,” Hunter Biden said in a statement on Sunday, adding he had remained sober for more than five years.

“In the throes of addiction, I squandered many opportunities and advantages … I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”

Republicans criticized the president’s move.

“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site, referring to those convicted for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after Trump claimed falsely that he had won the 2020 election.

“Joe Biden has lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence peddling activities,” said Representative James Comer, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

The president, whose son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015, said his opponents had sought to break Hunter with selective prosecution.

He said people were almost never brought to trial for felony charges for how they filled out a gun form, and said others who were late in paying taxes because of addiction but paid them back with interest and penalties, as his son had, typically received non-criminal resolutions to their cases.

“It is clear that Hunter was treated differently. The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden said. “In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”

In August 2023, lawyers for Hunter Biden said prosecutors had reneged on a plea deal that would have resolved the tax and firearms charges. The president said in his statement on Sunday that the plea deal “would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.”

Biden said he had made his decision to pardon over the weekend. The president, his wife, Jill Biden, and their family including Hunter, spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and returned to Washington on Saturday night.

“Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further,” Biden said.

“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.”

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Chris Reese and Edmund Klamann)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, on Sunday night, sparing the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions and reversing his past promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family members.

The Democratic president had previously said he would not pardon his son or commute his sentence after his convictions in the two cases in Delaware and California. The move comes weeks before Hunter Biden was set to receive his punishment after his trial conviction in the gun case and guilty plea on tax charges, and less than two months before President-elect Donald Trump is set to return to the White House.

It caps a long-running legal saga for the younger Biden, who publicly disclosed he was under federal investigation in December 2020 — a month after his father’s 2020 victory — and casts a pall over the elder Biden’s legacy. Biden, who time and again pledged to Americans that he would restore norms and respect for the rule of law after Trump’s first term in office, ultimately used his position to help his son, breaking his public pledge to Americans that he would do no such thing.

In June, Biden categorically ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son, telling reporters as his son faced trial in the Delware gun case, “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.”

As recently as Nov. 8, days after Trump’s victory, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ruled out a pardon or clemency for the younger Biden, saying, “We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.”

In a statement released Sunday evening, Biden said, “Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” alleging that the prosecution of his son was politically motivated and a “miscarriage of justice.”

“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden said. “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son.”

“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision,” Biden added, claiming he made the decision this weekend. The president had spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts with Hunter and his family, and was set to depart later Sunday on what may be his last foreign trip as president before leaving office on Jan. 20, 2025.

Hunter Biden was convicted in June in Delaware federal court of three felonies for purchasing a gun in 2018 when, prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.

He was set to stand trial in September in the California case accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. But he agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges in a surprise move hours after jury selection was set to begin.

Hunter Biden said he was pleading guilty in that case to spare his family more pain and embarrassment after the gun trial aired salacious details about his struggles with a crack cocaine addiction.

The tax charges carry up to 17 years behind bars and the gun charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, though federal sentencing guidelines were expected to call for far less time and it was possible he would avoid prison time entirely.

The sweeping pardon covers not just those offenses, but also any other “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.”

Biden is hardly the first president to deploy his pardon powers to benefit those close to him.

In his final weeks in office, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in law, Jared Kushner, as well as multiple allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Trump this week announced plans to nominate the elder Kushner to be the U.S. envoy to France in his next administration.

Hunter Biden said in an emailed statement that he will never take for granted the relief granted to him and vowed to devote the life he has rebuilt “to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”

“I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,” the younger Biden said.

A spokesperson for special counsel David Weiss, who brought the cases, did not respond to messages seeking comment Sunday night.

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TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — A third night of protests in the Georgian capital against the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union left 44 people hospitalized, officials said Sunday.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the parliament Saturday night, throwing stones and setting off fireworks, while police deployed water cannons and tear gas. An effigy of the founder of the governing Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili — a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — was burned in front of the legislature.

Georgia’s Interior Ministry said Sunday that 27 protesters, 16 police and one media worker were hospitalized.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze warned that “any violation of the law will be met with the full rigor of the law.”

“Neither will those politicians who hide in their offices and sacrifice members of their violent groups to severe punishment escape responsibility,” he said at a briefing Sunday.

He insisted it wasn’t true that Georgia’s European integration had been halted. “The only thing we have rejected is the shameful and offensive blackmail, which was, in fact, a significant obstacle to our country’s European integration.” The government’s announcement came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution criticizing last month’s general election in Georgia as neither free nor fair.

Kobakhidze also dismissed the U.S. State Department’s statement Saturday that it was suspending its strategic partnership with Georgia. The statement condemned Georgia’s decision to halt its efforts toward EU accession.

“You can see that the outgoing administration is trying to leave the new administration with as difficult a legacy as possible. They are doing this regarding Ukraine, and now also concerning Georgia,” Kobakhidze said. “This will not have any fundamental significance. We will wait for the new administration and discuss everything with them.”

Kobakhidze also confirmed that Georgia’s ambassador to the U.S., David Zalkaliani, had become the latest of a number of diplomats to stand down since the protests started.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and enlargement commissioner Marta Kos released a joint statement Sunday on the Georgian government’s decision to suspend negotiations.

“We note that this announcement marks a shift from the policies of all previous Georgian governments and the European aspirations of the vast majority of the Georgian people, as enshrined in the Constitution of Georgia,” the statement said.

It reiterated the EU’s “serious concerns about the continuous democratic backsliding of the country” and urged Georgian authorities to “respect the right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, and refrain from using force against peaceful protesters, politicians and media representatives.”

The ruling Georgian Dream party’s disputed victory in the Oct. 26 parliamentary election, which was widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join the EU, has sparked major demonstrations and led to an opposition boycott of parliament.

The opposition has said that the vote was rigged with the help of Russia, Georgia’s former imperial master, with Moscow hoping to keep Tbilisi in its orbit.

Speaking to The Associated Press on Saturday, Georgia’s pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili said that her country was becoming a “quasi-Russian” state and that Georgian Dream controlled the major institutions.

“We are not demanding a revolution. We are asking for new elections, but in conditions that will ensure that the will of the people will not be misrepresented or stolen again,” Zourabichvili said.

The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on condition that it meet the bloc’s recommendations, but put its accession on hold and cut financial support earlier this year after the passage of a “foreign influence” law widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms.

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party in Wisconsin, said Sunday he has joined the race to lead the national party after an election that swept Donald Trump and Republicans to power in Washington.

“In Wisconsin, we’ve built a permanent campaign,” Wikler said in his candidacy announcement. “We organize and communicate year-round in every corner of the state — rural, suburban, urban, red, blue and purple areas alike.”

Since losing control of the White House, the Senate and the House, Democrats are looking for new leadership to tackle the nation’s problems with the additional challenge of confronting four more years of a Trump presidency.

Top announced candidates to lead the Democratic National Committee include Ken Martin, chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and a vice chair of the national party, and Martin O’Malley, a former Maryland governor and current Social Security administrator. The DNC will choose its successor in February, an election that will speak volumes about how the party wants to present itself during four more years of Trump in the White House.

Wikler, who was elected state chair in 2019, cites his experience leading the party’s efforts in a state that shifted less toward Trump than other battlegrounds in 2024 and where Democrats won key downballot races.

He said that during his tenure, Democrats flipped the majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and reelected Tony Evers as governor. This year, the state returned Sen. Tammy Baldwin for a third term and retook 14 state legislative seats, which he says puts Democrats on track for majorities in both chambers in 2026.

“What has made a difference in Wisconsin can made a difference everywhere,” Wikler said.

Wikler, 43, has served as a Washington director for MoveOn.org, a progressive advocacy group and as a campaign director for Avaaz, a group that mobilizes members to take on issues such as poverty, climate change and human rights.

Wikler told CNN’s “Inside Politics Sunday” that Democrats need to show Americans that “we’re on their side and show who Republicans are for. If we don’t do that, then we’re going to lose.”

___

Associated Press writer Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.

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By Tim Reid

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) – Several Republican U.S. senators said on Sunday they would back President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Kash Patel to head the FBI, an early show of support for a loyalist who has called for the bureau to be purged of those who oppose Trump’s agenda.

Patel, nominated by Trump on Saturday, also has advocated for a campaign of retribution against Trump’s perceived enemies.

Patel, 44, could face a challenging confirmation process with the U.S. Senate. During Trump’s first term, Patel, who advised both the director of national intelligence and the defense secretary, drew animosity from some more experienced national security officials, who saw him as volatile and too eager to please the then-president.

While some Democrats on Sunday voiced concerns that the law enforcement agency would become politicized and a tool for Trump to pursue adversaries under Patel, several senior Republican senators praised Trump’s pick.

Republican U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he had encouraged Trump to pick Patel.

“There are serious problems at the FBI. The American public knows it. They expect to see sweeping change, and Kash Patel is just the type of person to do it,” Hagerty said.

Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz called Patel “a very strong nominee.”

Cruz told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that Patel was a “real reformer” who would enter the FBI “to clean out the corrupted partisans” running the agency.

Republicans will have a majority when the new U.S. Congress reconvenes in January.

By nominating Patel, Trump is signaling that he is preparing to carry out his threat to oust current FBI Director Christopher Wray, whose 10-year term does not expire until 2027.

Wray, a Republican appointed by Trump in 2017, has since drawn his ire, especially after an FBI raid in 2022 on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Florida estate to search for classified government documents.

U.S. Republican Senator Mike Rounds said he was not surprised Trump would want personnel “that he believes are very loyal.”

Rounds said he had no issues with Wray’s performance as FBI director, however, calling him “a good man” on ABC’s “This Week.”

Dick Durbin, a senior U.S. Democratic senator who will be one of the senators questioning Patel during his confirmation hearing, said in a statement: “The Senate should reject this unprecedented effort to weaponize the FBI for the campaign of retribution that Donald Trump has promised.”

Chuck Grassley, a veteran Republican senator, wrote on X that he would be happy to see Wray replaced but said Patel needed to prove himself in his confirmation hearing.

“Kash Patel must prove to Congress he will reform & restore public trust in FBI,” Grassley said.

(Reporting by Tim Reid in West Palm Beach, Florida. Additional reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Richard Chang)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Biden pardons his son Hunter on gun, tax charges, despite previous promises that he would not do so.

After being pardoned, Hunter Biden says he will ‘never take the clemency I have been given today for granted.’

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TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — A third night of protests in the Georgian capital against the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union left 44 people hospitalized, officials said Sunday.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the parliament Saturday night, throwing stones and setting off fireworks, while police deployed water cannons and tear gas. An effigy of the founder of the governing Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili — a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — was burned in front of the legislature.

Georgia’s Interior Ministry said Sunday that 27 protesters, 16 police and one media worker were hospitalized.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze warned that “any violation of the law will be met with the full rigor of the law.”

“Neither will those politicians who hide in their offices and sacrifice members of their violent groups to severe punishment escape responsibility,” he said at a briefing Sunday.

He insisted it wasn’t true that Georgia’s European integration had been halted. “The only thing we have rejected is the shameful and offensive blackmail, which was, in fact, a significant obstacle to our country’s European integration.” The government’s announcement came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution criticizing last month’s general election in Georgia as neither free nor fair.

Kobakhidze also dismissed the U.S. State Department’s statement Saturday that it was suspending its strategic partnership with Georgia. The statement condemned Georgia’s decision to halt its efforts toward EU accession.

“You can see that the outgoing administration is trying to leave the new administration with as difficult a legacy as possible. They are doing this regarding Ukraine, and now also concerning Georgia,” Kobakhidze said. “This will not have any fundamental significance. We will wait for the new administration and discuss everything with them.”

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and enlargement commissioner Marta Kos released a joint statement Sunday on the Georgian government’s decision to suspend negotiations.

“We note that this announcement marks a shift from the policies of all previous Georgian governments and the European aspirations of the vast majority of the Georgian people, as enshrined in the Constitution of Georgia,” the statement said.

It reiterated the EU’s “serious concerns about the continuous democratic backsliding of the country” and urged Georgian authorities to “respect the right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, and refrain from using force against peaceful protesters, politicians and media representatives.”

The ruling Georgian Dream party’s disputed victory in the Oct. 26 parliamentary election, which was widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join the EU, has sparked major demonstrations and led to an opposition boycott of parliament.

The opposition has said that the vote was rigged with the help of Russia, Georgia’s former imperial master, with Moscow hoping to keep Tbilisi in its orbit.

Speaking to The Associated Press on Saturday, Georgia’s pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili said that her country was becoming a “quasi-Russian” state and that Georgian Dream controlled the major institutions.

“We are not demanding a revolution. We are asking for new elections, but in conditions that will ensure that the will of the people will not be misrepresented or stolen again,” Zourabichvili said.

The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on condition that it meet the bloc’s recommendations, but put its accession on hold and cut financial support earlier this year after the passage of a “foreign influence” law widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms.

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Kash Patel has called for radical changes at the FBI and was a fierce and vocal critic of the bureau’s work as it investigated ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Now the steadfast Trump ally has been tapped to lead the federal law enforcement agency he’s pushed to overhaul.

A look at Patel, Trump’s pick to replace Christopher Wray atop the FBI.

Patel has for years been a loyal ally to Trump, finding common cause over their shared skepticism of government surveillance and the “deep state” — a pejorative catchall used by Trump to refer to government bureaucracy.

He was part of a small group of supporters during Trump’s recent criminal trial in New York who accompanied him to the courthouse, where he told reporters that Trump was the victim of an “unconstitutional circus.”

That close bond would depart from the modern-day precedent of FBI directors looking to keep presidents at arm’s length.

Former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by Trump in May 2017, memorably recoiled when Trump asked him during a private dinner to pledge his loyalty to him. And Wray, who had no personal connection to Trump when he was picked to replace Comey, broke with Trump on different hot-button issues and served as FBI director during investigations into Trump that ultimately led to his indictment.

Patel has signaled through interviews and public statements a determination to upend the FBI and radically reshape its mission.

He’s called for dramatically reducing its footprint and limiting its authority, as well as going after government officials who disclose information to reporters.

In an interview earlier this year on the “Shawn Ryan Show,” Patel vowed to sever the FBI’s intelligence-gathering activities from the rest of its mission and said he would “shut down” the bureau’s headquarters building on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., and “reopen it the next day as a museum of the ‘deep state.’”

“And I’d take the seven thousand employees that work in that building and send them across America to go chase down criminals,” he added.

In a separate interview with conservative strategist Steve Bannon, Patel said he and others “will go out and find the conspirators not just in government but in the media.”

”We’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections,” Patel said, referring to the 2020 presidential election in which Biden, the Democratic challenger, defeated Trump. “We’re going to come after you, whether it’s criminally or civilly. We’ll figure that out. But yeah, we’re putting you all on notice.”

Patel first came to prominence in Trump’s orbit as an outspoken critic of the FBI’s investigation into potential ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

As a staffer on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, chaired at the time by Rep. Devin Nunes, a Trump loyalist, Patel helped author a four-page report that detailed what it said were errors the Justice Department made in obtaining a warrant to surveil a former Trump campaign adviser.

The document, which came to be colloquially known as the “Nunes memo,” was released over vigorous objections from Wray and Justice Department leaders.

A subsequent inspector general report identified significant problems with FBI surveillance during the Russia investigation, but also concluded that the inquiry had been opened for a legitimate purpose and found no evidence that the FBI had acted with partisan motives in conducting the probe.

Patel has played a role in several legal investigations into Trump.

He appeared in 2022 before the Washington grand jury investigating Trump’s hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after receiving immunity for his testimony.

He also testified at a Colorado court hearing related to Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the run-up to the violent Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Patel, who at the time of the riot was chief of staff to the then-acting defense secretary, testified that Trump had pre-emptively authorized 10,000 to 20,000 troops to deploy days before the attack. But a Colorado court later found that Patel was “not a credible witness” on the topic.

Shortly after Trump left office, Patel launched Fight with Kash, an organization that funds defamation lawsuits and peddles a wide variety of merchandise, including branded socks and other clothing with the “K$H” logo.

Patel has also turned to publishing. He wrote a book called “Government Gangsters,” which is part memoir and part screed against the so-called deep state. Patel teamed with Bannon to release a film version. Patel has also authored children’s books that lionize Trump — “The Plot Against the King” features a thinly veiled Hillary Clinton as the villain going after “King Donald” while Kash plays a wizard who thwarts her plans.

Patel has been a pitchman for a variety of products marketed to Trump supporters. One dietary supplement he’s promoted claims to be a COVID vaccine “detoxification system.”

Records show that Patel has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from consulting for Trump-related entities, including a political action committee and the company that owns Truth Social.

Patel helped produce “And Justice For All,” a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner sung by a group of men incarcerated for their role in the Capitol riot.

Patel’s candidacy has won support from prominent Trump supporters, including people who support the president-elect’s agenda at the FBI and Justice Department and the idea of using his electoral win to pursue retaliation against his perceived adversaries.

He’s been a regular guest on right-wing podcasts and live-stream online shows hosted by Bannon, Tim Pool, Benny Johnson and others.

Even as Trump was said to be considering more conventional picks for the job whose confirmation prospects were seen as more certain, some conservative backers of the president-elect actively boosted Patel’s candidacy and disparaged other potential selections, including Mike Rogers, a former FBI agent and ex-Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee.

A Trump aide recently said on social media that Rogers was not getting the job.

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