Patel the Public Defender

FOX News and the White House are spinning hard that Kash Patel spent much of his career as a white knight public defender who defended the innocent against the powerful.

Not quite.

Patel's record as a public defender is marked by mediocrity, with highlights defending some pretty unseemly characters. But that was his job right? Just like it's an FBI agent's job to take criminal cases, without fear of political reprisal. If Patel can be forgiven for representing child sex offenders and alien smugglers, shouldn't he back off the 5,000 agents who were doing their jobs pursuing and successfully prosecuting hundreds of violent criminals?

FOX News and the White House are spinning hard that Kash Patel spent much of his career as a white knight public defender who defended the innocent against the powerful.

Not quite.

Patel's record as a public defender is marked by mediocrity, with highlights defending some pretty unseemly characters. But that was his job right? Just like it's an FBI agent's job to take criminal cases, without fear of political reprisal. If Patel can be forgiven for representing child sex offenders and alien smugglers, shouldn't he back off the 5,000 agents who were doing their jobs pursuing and successfully prosecuting hundreds of violent criminals?