President Donald Trump is anticipated to call FBI Director Kash Patel because the performing head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, sources conversant in the matter instructed ABC Information.
A Justice Division official instructed ABC Information that Patel is anticipated to be sworn into the performing director place early subsequent week.
FBI Director nominee Kash Patel gestures as he walks on stage to talk through the inaugural parade inside Capital One Enviornment, in Washington, DC, on Jan. 20, 2025.
Angela Weiss/AFP by way of Getty Photos, FILE
The White Home did not reply to a request for remark.
The transfer comes after Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi fired the ATF’s common counsel, Pamela Hicks, late final week. Bondi mentioned in an interview with Fox Information on Friday that it was as a result of the company’s lead lawyer was “focusing on gun house owners.”
Kash Patel is sworn in as FBI director by Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi within the Indian Treaty Room within the Eisenhower Government Workplace Constructing on the White Home campus in Washington, Feb. 21, 2025.
Pedro Ugarte/AFP by way of Getty Photos
ABC Information reached out to Hicks for remark.
The ATF, which is tasked with regulating gross sales and registrations of firearms throughout the US, has lengthy been a goal of Republicans over what they argue is authorities encroachment on Second Modification rights.
Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi walks to the West Wing of the White Home, Feb. 21, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
Earlier this month, Trump issued an govt order instructing Bondi to overview actions to deal with the correct to maintain and bear arms and current a plan to the White Home after 30 days. In certainly one of her first memos signed after her affirmation, Bondi instructed the ATF to shift assets away from its alcohol and tobacco enforcement arms to help within the DOJ’s efforts to fight unlawful immigration and transnational felony teams.
