Kashyap "Kash" Patel (born February 25, 1980) [ 1 ] is an American attorney and the nominee to be the next FBI director. Patel previously served as a U.S. National Security Council official, senior advisor to the acting Director of National Intelligence , and chief of staff to the acting United States secretary of defense during the first Trump presidency . [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] Patel is the author of the 2023 book, Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy. A member of the Republican Party , Patel worked as a senior aide to congressman Devin Nunes during the latter's tenure as chair of the House Intelligence Committee . [ 5 ] He began his career as a federal public defender, a federal prosecutor working on national security cases, and a legal liaison to the United States Armed Forces . [ 6 ] As an aide to Congressman Nunes, Patel pl...