Trump picks 40-something 'loyalist' Kathy Patel for FBI Director

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has said he will select former Secretary of Defense Kathy Patel, a "loyalist," as the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and FBI.

"Kathy Patel will serve as the next FBI director," Trump said on social network service Truth Social. "Kathy is an outstanding lawyer and investigator, and an 'America First Warrior' who has a career in uncovering corruption, protecting justice and protecting Americans."

Patel is understood to have hindered the transfer of duties to Joe Biden's administration in the final months of the first Trump administration, when the Pentagon was operating under acting secretary.