A senior adviser to President-elect Donald Trump ruled out former Rep. Mike Rogers as a possibility to lead the FBI on Friday following an outcry from Trump’s base about Rogers’s rumored nomination.
“Just spoke to President Trump regarding Mike Rogers going to the FBI,” longtime Trump adviser Dan Scavino wrote on X. “It’s not happening — In his own words, ‘I have never even given it a thought.’ Not happening.”
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
Scavino’s revelation that Trump had not even considered nominating Rogers, a Michigan Republican and former FBI special agent, to lead the bureau came after Fox News interviewed Rogers on Friday morning and revealed that he met with the president-elect last week. Rogers spoke during the interview about reforms he would make to the FBI if chosen to lead it.
Scavino’s statement also followed CNN reporting Thursday night that Trump was considering nominating Rogers.
Trump’s most vocal supporters, such as War Room podcast host Steve Bannon and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), have been aggressively urging Trump to nominate loyalist Kash Patel, who worked as an official in the intelligence community and the Defense Department during Trump’s first term.
Patel serves on the board that owns Trump’s Truth Social platform and has called for disbanding the FBI headquarters and eliminating the so-called deep state, positions that the MAGA faction of Trump’s base also supports.
Bannon recently hosted a podcast episode in which he shed light on who Rogers “really is.” Meanwhile, a top conservative influencer wrote on X on Thursday that “whoever is pushing Mike Rogers should be removed from Trump’s orbit immediately.”
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Vice President-elect J.D. Vance revealed this week in a since-deleted statement online that Trump has been interviewing candidates to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Trump appointed Wray to the role in 2017 but has since soured on him, in part, because the FBI conducted investigations into Trump’s handling of classified documents and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. The investigations led to high-profile criminal prosecutions and legal battles for Trump, but those have begun to fizzle in the wake of Trump’s election victory.