Kash Patel took oath as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director on the sacred Hindu text of Bhagavad Gita instead of the Bible. His family, his girlfriend Alekins Wilkins and colleagues were present at the ceremony.
A first-generation Indian who traces his roots to Gujarat’s Anand, Kash said he is “living the American Dream” and he called the opportunity to lead the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency the "greatest honour" of his life.
Kash Patel after being sworn in as FBI director said, "Anyone who thinks the American Dream is dead, look right here. You're talking to a first-generation Indian kid who is about to lead the law enforcement community in the greatest nation on God's Earth."
US President Donald Trump praised Patel, saying he would go down as the best FBI director. "One of the reasons I loved Kash and wanted to put him in was the respect the agents had for him. I think he'll go down as the best ever at that position," Trump said.
Trump added that the "agents love this guy".
The White House swearing-in on Friday was conducted by Attorney General Pam Bondi and attended by Republican supporters in Congress, including US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and US Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio.
Patel was confirmed by the US Senate on Thursday by a 51-49 margin, with two Republican lawmakers, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, breaking party ranks and voting against him.
Patel will inherit an FBI gripped by turmoil as the Justice Department over the past month has forced out a group of senior bureau officials and made a highly unusual demand for the names of thousands of agents who participated in investigations related to the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol.
Democrats had sounded the alarm about the appointment, saying they fear Patel will operate as a loyalist for Trump and abuse the FBI's law enforcement powers to go after the president's adversaries. They've cited past comments such as his suggestion before he was nominated that he would "come after" anti-Trump "conspirators" in the government and media.
Patel has spoken of his desire to implement major changes at the FBI, including a reduced footprint in Washington and a renewed emphasis on the bureau's traditional crime-fighting duties rather than the intelligence-gathering work that has come to define its mandate over the past two decades as national security threats have proliferated.
He said Friday that the FBI's "national security mission" was equally as important as its efforts to fight violent crime and drug overdoses.
"Anyone that wishes to do harm to our way of life and our citizens, here and abroad, will face the full wrath of the DOJ and FBI," Patel said. "If you seek to hide in any corner of this country or planet, we will put on the world's largest manhunt and we will find you and we will decide your end-state."
With inputs from agencies
