Kash Patel’s nomination as the next FBI director is historic for many reasons. He will become the first Indian-American and first public defender to head the FBI, respectively.

It’s this last feat that matters most to me, given that I worked with Kash at the Federal Civil Service Office in Miami from 2009 to 2014.

This is also the issue I expected Democrats to be most excited about, but they don’t mention it at all in their screed attacking Kash Patel. The Kash I have known and worked with is not the “lock up your enemy” caricature you read in the newspapers.

The public defender’s office for the Southern District of Florida, where we worked, had a reputation as one of, if not the best, public defender’s office in the country. The defense attorney took his firm’s reputation seriously, hiring only people like Kash who were calm, even calm, and whose arguments were fact-based.

Kash fought for due process for his client, no matter what he was accused of doing. He defended a gun smuggler, an alleged corrupt police officer, a Colombian drug trafficker, and a drug dealer nicknamed “The Slug.”

In fact, Kash was already working as a public defender before joining the federal PD office in Miami, spending four years prior with the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office. There he tried dozens of cases resulting in verdicts on charges such as murder, kidnapping and armed carjacking.

Therefore, I believe Kash Patel is the perfect person to lead the FBI and carry out the American people’s mandate to get our current justice system back on track. (Related article: Kash Patel wants the FBI to step back from spying — this is a good place to start)

Mr. Kash’s work experience gives him a unique approach to leading the FBI. He has spent years working with people who cannot afford a lawyer. The only explanation someone would take such a career path is because they believe in the justice system just like Kash does. He understands that the best way to keep people free, other than military service, is to keep the justice system fair and curb government abuses.

As I approach my 40th year as a lawyer, I can’t think of a better name to recommend for this job than Kash. True to his mission to uphold the law and uphold the Constitution, he has investigated and brought to justice all the most heinous human traffickers, the most violent terrorists, the toughest drug cartels, and even high-end white-collar criminals. I have been trying to pass judgment on them. What they deserve through the lens of due process and a fair and apolitical justice system. In fact, in one case that made the news, Kash revealed that federal prosecutors withheld key evidence from the defense in a drug trafficking trial.

WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 11: US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, meets with Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) at the Dirksen Senate Building on December 11, 2024 in Washington, DC. arrive at the meeting. . Candidates for the incoming Trump administration continue to travel to the U.S. Capitol this week to meet with senators and discuss potential appointments. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

With his proven approach, Kash has defended those who otherwise would not have had a voice in the lowest courts during his tenure under Democratic and Republican presidents, and has given ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliates the power of his book. I was able to cover the entire content.

President Donald Trump has rampaged through the country, repeatedly pledging to restore the trust of the American people by removing politics from the FBI and ending the weaponization of the federal government. Mr. Kash became the first public defender to serve as Director of the FBI, rooting out the weeds that have taken over one of the federal government’s oldest and most necessary agencies, and helping the FBI to deter criminals and criminals. It will bring the focus back. When they do, to the bottom of it.

Michael Spivak was an assistant public defender. Currently, I am a private criminal defense attorney.