JUST IN: Trump Eliminates Top Candidate From Consideration For FBI Nomination

As nominees for top posts in a second Trump administration continue rolling out, many observers are eager to see who President-elect Donald Trump will tap to lead the FBI as he seeks to rein in the agency that first investigated him in the Russia collusion hoax. According to sources who have spoken to Trump, one significant name in consideration dropped off the shortlist today.

Dan Scavino, managing the Trump transition as deputy chief of staff, confirmed on Friday that former congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers is no longer in the running to head up the Bureau. Rogers, 61, was defeated by Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) for Michigan’s open seat by fewer than 20,000 votes. According to Scavino, Trump “threw cold water” on the thought of having his former ally in such a powerful position despite Rogers’s history as a Special Agent and being interviewed for the job in 2017.

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“Just spoke to President Trump regarding Mike Rogers going to the FBI. It’s not happening — In his own words, ‘I have never even given it a thought.’ Not happening,” Scavino wrote on X, the New York Post reported. A second source close to the transition team confirmed that Trump had nixed the proposal.

Just spoke to President Trump regarding Mike Rogers going to the FBI. It’s not happening — In his own words, “I have never even given it a thought.” Not happening.

— Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) November 22, 2024

The dismissal of Rogers may indicate that President-elect Trump is continuing to try and surround himself with individuals intent on destabilizing government institutions that he believes have been weaponized against him for the past four years. On Thursday Matt Gaetz withdrew himself from the running for U.S. attorney general after it became clear that he wouldn’t have the votes to win confirmation by the Senate. Gaetz, a fire-breathing MAGA warrior, was the only ally who promised Trump that he would begin by “cracking skulls” at the Justice Department, Politico previously reported. In that same vein, another Trump devotee has won the hearts and minds of supporters eager to see a similar approach at the FBI: Kash Patel.

The 44-year-old former Trump staffer would “endanger” the agency if Trump taps him to lead it, former director Andrew McCabe said recently, a sign that Patel is exactly the kind of leader Trump may be hoping for. “No part of the FBI’s mission is safe with Kash Patel in any position of leadership in the FBI, and certainly not in the Deputy Director’s job,” McCabe told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, The Hill reported, adding, “The scope of authority is enormous. If you enter into that position with nothing more than a desire to disrupt and destroy the organization, there is a lot of damage someone like Kash Patel could do.”

Patel remained loyal to Trump following J6 and his time as a senior advisor to the former director of national intelligence. And the more longtime intelligence officials trash his reputation, the more they may embolden Trump to choose him. “Putting someone like Kash Patel in the position of director of the FBI is, I believe, extremely, extremely dangerous because … his resume isn’t traditional,” former FBI Special Agent Daniel Brunner said Sunday on CNN.

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