In a stunning blow to the heart of MAGA, FBI Director Kash Patel has appointed a central figure in the bureau’s aggressive crackdown on Jan. 6 rioters to head the agency’s Washington field office.  Patel’s decision to elevate Steven Jensen this week was rich with irony, given Jensen’s ce ntral role in bringing criminal charges against hundreds of Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters for raiding the U.S. Capitol in early 2021, leading to convictions for nearly all involved. Trump repeatedly denounced the prosecutions by the Biden Justice Department as political persecution — leading the new president to issue a sweeping pardon on his first day in office. This action received no noticeable blowback from conservatives, who dismissed concerns of a blanket pardon as “Trump’s prerogative” as president.  FBI Director Kash Patel appears during a Senate Committee on Intelligence Hearing on March 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. The hearing to examine worldwide threats comes a day after Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic magazine was inadvertently included on a high level Trump administration Signal group chat on bombing plans in Yemen on Houthi targets. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) Now Patel’s latest move has sparked fresh outrage across Trump’s base. Patel, who had been heralded by conservatives as the champion to reform the FBI after his blustery criticism of the agency and its perceived politicization, is now under intense scrutiny from the very supporters who once placed their hopes in him to expose the so-called deep state. Patel’s critics, including prominent Trump supporters and FBI whistleblowers, see his move as a betrayal of their expectations for reforms he vowed to carry out if he were ever placed in charge of the nation’s top law enforcement arm.  The controversy erupted this week after Patel confirmed the promotion of Jensen, once the section chief of the FBI’s Domestic Terrorism Operations Section, which played a central role in the sweeping investigation into the Capitol riot, while labeling those involved as “terrorists.”  Jensen was instrumental in the arrests of hundreds of Trump supporters, a move that fueled accusations of political games being played within the bureau.  We asked Kash Patel to give us an explanation why he Promoted Steven Jensen… and in a roundabout way, I think that just happened I read it and it does change my perspective with the main concerns. 1.) Jensen saying J6’ers were terrorists and wanted to “round them up.—… pic.twitter.com/2G2yz0ZWnI— Bluegrasspatriot (@kylawndog) April 11, 2025 In another surprise shake-up last week, Patel was quietly removed as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives weeks after being sworn in, according to The Associated Press, citing three people familiar with the matter. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll has been tapped to take over — though Patel was still listed as director on the ATF website and in public materials as recently as late last week. The sudden switch, which wasn’t announced internally until April 9, raised eyebrows given the long-standing firewall between the military and domestic law enforcement. Driscoll is expected to remain Army secretary while also overseeing the Justice Department agency tasked with enforcing the nation’s gun laws. So let me get this straight…Kash Patel was ATF director, in addition to FBI director. He went to the HQs once. But he’s been to UFC fights and has been hanging with Gretzky?He was removed today. Now the Secretary Of the ARMY is overseeing ATF…in addition to the Army pic.twitter.com/U8r2cSgmn9— Jes (@galexy70) April 9, 2025 However, it was Jensen’s promotion that sent shock waves through the conservative base, igniting calls for accountability and explanations from Patel and his deputy, former podcaster Dan Bongino. Miranda Devine, writing in the conservative New York Post, has been one of the leading voices condemning Patel’s decision. She sharply criticized Jensen’s promotion, calling it a direct contradiction to the MAGA agenda and the promise to root out corruption within the FBI. The editorial argued that Patel’s failure to deliver on his reform promises will only deepen the disillusionment among Trump’s most loyal supporters. One of Jensen’s most vocal critics has been George Hill, a now-retired FBI intelligence analyst from Boston who previously aligned himself with a group of FBI whistleblowers, claiming politics in the Biden Justice Department had influenced the Jan. 6 investigation.  Hill testified before the House Judiciary Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Feb. 7, 2023, suggesting Jensen had a personal vendetta against the riot suspects, and had referred to them privately as “godd-mn terrorists,” while advocating for sweeping arrests regardless of whether there was solid evidence. The FBI's Steven Jensen is absolutely evil, and he severely abused the J6 protesters. He should be prosecuted, not promoted. What the hell is wrong with Kash Patel? Was Government Gangsters all bullshit?— Jon Dregalla (@JonDregalla) April 8, 2025 Hill’s testimony led to a GOP-led House report that accused the FBI of politically biased practices — including working with Bank of America to obtain customer transaction data around Jan. 6, and elevating the names of those who had previously purchased firearms. Hill also echoed broader claims within conservative circles that the bureau unfairly targeted parents who protested at school board meetings and Catholic churchgoers, citing concerns tied to an internal DOJ memo issued by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland. While those allegations struck a chord in the MAGAverse, critics outside the movement questioned the motives and credibility of the agents who made the claims. Additionally, much of Hill’s testimony came secondhand, and legal experts pointed out that his interpretation of the Garland memo mischaracterized its contents — which focused on credible threats of violence, not peaceful dissent. Jensen’s defenders dismissed the backlash as a politicized attempt to discredit one of the Bureau’s most determined figures in the wake of Jan. 6. Still, Jensen’s alleged role in the affair wasn’t forgotten in right-wing media, and his purported leadership in this alleged shadow world of the FBI has left many questioning Patel’s judgment to keep Jensen on staff, let alone promote him to a more powerful position within the Bureau. For many in the MAGA crowd, their early enthusiasm for Patel now seems to have exploded in their faces. Jensen’s recent promotion only intensified the current backlash, with many MAGA critics complaining that Patel had lied about his earlier promises to clean house. Before his Senate confirmation, Patel won wide praise among Republicans when he outlined his vision for the agency’s restructuring in conservative media. He proposed closing the FBI’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, on his first day in office, with plans to reopen it the following day as a “museum of the deep state.”  Kash Patel told us he would shut down the FBI building and turn it into a museum on day 1So why is he giving promotions to people who destroyed the lives of innocent Americans?Don’t tell us to trust the plan either https://t.co/EM6iHjyskC… pic.twitter.com/1I2isY2nzW— Hodgetwins (@hodgetwins) April 8, 2025 However, none of that has happened since Patel claimed the helm earlier this year. During Trump’s 2024 campaign, Patel told the MAGA faithful he would deploy approximately 7,000 FBI agents from the Washington headquarters to cities across the country to “chase down criminals.” But now, the reality is Jensen will be in charge of how those agents are allocated. During his confirmation hearings, Patel also vowed to bring transparency and accountability to the FBI, condemning the agency’s politicization and vowing to dismantle its corrupt practices. However, the selection of Jensen, who had been instrumental in what many view as an overzealous campaign against Trump supporters, seems to signal a retreat from those promises. “We wanted Patel to clean up the mess at the FBI, but instead, he’s handed the keys to the same people who created it,” said Derrick Evans, a former January 6 defendant who was pardoned by Trump. The backlash against Patel has been swift.  Richard Barnett, a rioter who was pardoned by Trump after serving a sentence for his involvement in storming the Capitol, vented his frustration on social media, accusing Patel and Bongino of “stabbing us in the back.” Barnett’s sentiment was echoed by Philip Anderson, a self-identified “January 6 survivor,” who said, “Dan Bongino and Kash Patel betrayed us all.”  Another added, “The FBI’s Steven Jensen is absolutely evil, and he severely abused the J6 protesters. He should be prosecuted, not promoted. What the hell is wrong with Kash Patel? Was Government Gangsters all bullshit?” The anger was palpable, with many questioning Patel’s loyalty to Trump and the entire MAGA movement and his commitment to rooting out the purported deep state operatives from within the FBI. The sudden disillusionment with Patel hasn’t been limited to the MAGA base.  Former colleagues from his earlier years in national security and law enforcement circles have also expressed quiet concern about his trajectory. Those who worked alongside him in Congress before he hitched his wagon to Trump describe a sharp departure from the focused, policy-driven aide they once knew. Patel began his legal career as a public defender, then worked as a federal prosecutor in Miami. His early résumé was solid: a nearly decade-long stint in courtrooms, a job at the Justice Department, and eventually a post as a top staffer on the House Intelligence Committee under Rep. Devin Nunes. There, he made his mark helping to draft the controversial “Nunes Memo,” which cast doubt on the FBI’s handling of the Russia investigation and got Patel noticed by Trump. Seeing an opening from the prase he received, Patel embarked on relentless efforts to shield and promote Trump. Former congressman Tom Rooney, who worked with Patel on the Intelligence Committee, said the change in Patel was stark.  “It’s not the same person that I knew,” Rooney told The Associated Press last year. In place of the once buttoned-down legal mind rose a more radicalized figure who railed against government norms while threatening legal retribution against journalists and political foes and defending the Jan. 6 people in far-right media. In 2024, Patel was a fixture outside Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial, declaring the proceedings an “unconstitutional circus.” Behind the scenes, Patel has profited from his proximity to Trump, sitting on the board of Trump Media and earning untold wealth through related business ventures. Among former officials at the Department of Justice and on Capitol Hill, there’s a growing sense that Patel has traded credibility for clout. Once viewed as a diligent operator who understood the complexities of intelligence work, Patel is now seen by some in the mainstream as someone more invested in political spectacle than institutional reform. According to AP, several former national security officials noted that Patel’s shift from serious-minded staffer to MAGA firebrand has cost him trust among those who previously considered him a rising figure within the establishment. What they see now is a figure caught between two worlds — no longer respected by the professional class he left behind, and now increasingly distrusted by the movement that once embraced him. Patel’s honeymoon with MAGA was unraveling just months into his highly anticipated tenure, as he settled into a role that some critics viewed as out of his depth. Yet, Trump continues to see the 45-year-old FBI chief as a loyal warrior — showing no signs of turning his back on Patel despite the rising unrest in the MAGA ranks. Meanwhile, Patel’s supporters argued that there was a larger plan in motion and that Patel’s critics needed to quiet down and wait for the other shoe to drop.  The latest theory circulating in certain pockets of MAGA claims a source close to Patel has  insisted that the decision to promote Jensen will make sense in the coming weeks, suggesting that Patel has a strategy to reform the FBI from within.  However, this explanation has done little to quell the growing unrest among Trump’s base, with conspiracy theories running amuck on the true meaning of Patel’s moves.  Influential right-wing advocates like Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, have expressed disappointment with Jensen’s promotion, calling it contrary to Patel’s promise to reform the FBI. The timing of Jensen’s promotion could not be worse for Patel. The FBI had already been facing scrutiny from Republicans for its previous efforts to investigate Trump over Russiagate and his alleged mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago following his first term. Critics, including members of the Heritage Foundation and Judicial Watch, have long called for accountability over these Justice Department probes, but Patel’s decision to elevate Jensen has only poured gasoline on the fire of outrage within the MAGA movement, further stoking the flames of controversy surrounding the agency. Former FBI agent Steve Friend, who blew the whistle on the FBI’s handling of January 6 arrests, likened Jensen’s promotion to appointing Anthony Fauci to head Health and Human Services, given Jensen’s pivotal role in creating what many see as a politically motivated crackdown, according to Friend’s interview with The Post and his testimony before Congress. With the public outcry growing, Patel’s office has been tight-lipped about the promotion.  Neither Patel nor Bongino has offered an explanation, and the FBI has refused to comment on the matter. However, as the controversy continues to unfold, the MAGA movement is left wondering if their hopes for FBI reform have been dashed, or if there is a more complex plan behind Patel’s decisions.  For now, what’s clear is the growing divide between the FBI’s leadership and the very Trump supporters who appeared to be losing faith in Kash Patel. ‘Absolutely Evil’: FBI Boss Kash Patel Promoted Man Central to Arresting Hundreds of Trump Supporters Involved In J6 Riots and MAGA Trolls Are In Full Meltdown Over Supposed ‘Betrayal’ ...read more read less