Outgoing national security adviser Jake Sullivan says FBI directors should be insulated from politics
Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, declined to comment Sunday on President-elect Donald Trump’s intention to name loyalist Kash Patel as FBI director once he takes office, but said it was vital to keep the position insulated from politics.
Sullivan said the Biden administration had upheld that “long-standing bipartisan tradition,” telling CNN’s Kasie Hunt on “State of the Union” that Christopher Wray — the current FBI director, whom Trump would replace before the end of his term — has performed well in the role.
“We inherited Director Chris Wray, who has done a very good job in the role, from President-elect Trump, who appointed him to a 10-year term. And what makes the FBI director different from most other nominees is they’re not just appointed for one term of a president, they’re appointed for enough time to last past two terms of a president, because they’re supposed to be insulated from politics,” Sullivan said.
As for Trump’s specific picks, Sullivan said, “I’ll let him speak for his own rationale.”
Hunt asked Sullivan if he feared personal retribution from Patel, who has criticized the national security adviser as part of the “deep state” in the past, but Sullivan said it wasn’t something he was concerned about.
“I wake up every day to try to defend this country and protect the national interest. I’ve got 50 days left. I’m going to stay totally focused on every single one of those days to make sure that we have a smooth handoff to the next team, and we put them in the best strategic position possible,” he said.
Some context: Trump’s announcement on Patel, a vocal critic of the FBI, is part of a trend of filling top law enforcement and intelligence positions with supporters who may be open to carrying out his demands for specific investigations, as well as inoculating the president against possible future probes.
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