WASHINGTON – In an unusually direct appeal, William Webster, a Republican and former director of both the CIA and the FBI, this week sent a scathing letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), urging him to remember his decades-long legacy of strengthening the FBI and to stop Kash Patel from being confirmed as the agency’s chief.
“As a fellow Republican, I urge you to consider the risks to national security, the integrity of the Bureau, and the safety of the American people before allowing this nomination to proceed unchecked,” Webster said Tuesday to Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over Patel’s nomination.
Patel, a loyal supporter of President Donald Trump, had his confirmation hearing on Jan. 30. In the days since then, Trump has been firing career FBI agents and federal prosecutors who played a role in investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and into Trump’s now-dismissed classified documents case. Some FBI agents have sued, alleging constitutional violations, and they got a brief victory in a federal court on Friday.
Senate Democrats, who oppose Patel’s nomination and fear he plans to use the FBI post to seek retribution against Trump’s political adversaries, have been urging Grassley to hold a second hearing to press Patel on Trump’s FBI shakeup. But Grassley has denied their requests and is moving forward with Patel’s committee vote as early as next week.
Webster, too, urged Grassley to slow Patel’s progress. “Given all that has happened since last Thursday, I respectfully ask you to re-open the hearing on Mr. Patel,” he wrote in his letter.
Webster, who was the FBI director under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan and the CIA director under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush, also said it’s “become clear that this administration is intent on destroying the FBI and eschewing the rule of law.”
“The FBI is not perfect, nor has it ever been, but it is still the preeminent law enforcement agency on the planet,” Webster wrote. “After all the hard work that you’ve done over your career, to allow it to be destroyed on your watch would not be a legacy I would want.”
Grassley spokesperson Clare Slattery did not respond to a request for comment on Webster’s letter. Instead, she pointed HuffPost to Grassley’s previous statement about denying Democrats’ requests for a second hearing for Patel.
“The Senate Judiciary Committee will not fall for Democrats’ delay tactics,” Grassley said in his Tuesday statement.
Here’s a copy of Webster’s letter, obtained by HuffPost:
Webster also warned that Patel is “unqualified” and poses national security risks. Patel has spread pro-Trump conspiracy theories — including the nonsensical claim that the FBI incited the Jan. 6 attack, when in fact it was Trump who did — and has supported the rioters who violently attacked dozens of police officers defending the U.S. Capitol that day.
More chillingly, if confirmed, Patel would bring to the FBI his “enemies list” of more than 50 current and former U.S. officials, who he could target for retribution on Trump’s behalf. In his 2023 book, “Government Gangsters,” Patel refers to these officials as “members of the Executive Branch deep state” and describes them as a “dangerous threat to democracy.”
Webster tells Grassley that much more is at stake with Patel’s nomination than just his own potential ascent into the FBI.
“This moment is not just about one nomination; it is about whether the FBI remains independent and effective or becomes simply a political tool,” he said.
Before sending his own letter to Grassley, Webster signed onto another letter with federal law enforcement groups to House and Senate leaders, raising “urgent concerns” about the Trump administration threatening the careers of thousands of FBI special agents.
“Put simply, Special Agents who risk their lives protecting this country from criminals and terrorists are now being placed on lists and having their careers jeopardized for carrying out the orders they were given by their superiors in the FBI,” reads the letter, dated Monday, to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and others. “These actions, which lack transparency and due process, are creating dangerous distractions, imperiling ongoing investigations, and undermining the Bureau’s ability to work with state, local, and international partners to make America safe again.”
Go Ad-Free — And Protect The Free Press
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
Signatories on this letter include Natalie Bara, president of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association, and Michael Clark, president of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI.