Head of influential sheriff's group embraces Kash Patel as FBI director: 'he's a butt kicker'

A prominent leader of an influential sheriff association on Tuesday publicly embraced President-elect Donald Trump's pick for FBI Director, Kash Patel, claiming he was a "butt kicker." 

Trump nominated Patel to replace current FBI Director Christopher Wray last month. But Wray, who was selected by Trump in 2017, can legally remain in his position until 2027. 

Former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack, who founded and leads the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, said his group has already endorsed Patel and encouraged the nominee to pick a sheriff as his deputy director.

"We already endorsed him publicly, and we love that he's there. He's a butt kicker. That's exactly what we need," Mack said on the "Just The News, No Noise" TV show. "There's a lot of good sheriffs that really could help him clean Washington, D.C., up, but the FBI is way too lawfare, way too weaponized and way too corrupt." 

Mack said he has connections to the FBI through his father, who retired from the bureau, and a cousin who was deputy director, and still believes the bureau needs some "revamping."

"I'd like to see [Patel] completely redo the FBI, abolish it and then bring back a few to keep it going where they're really needed," the former law enforcement officer said. "But the sheriffs and local officials and state officials can do a lot of what they've been doing, and there's duplicity all over the place ... We really have too many bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., and this bureaucratic nightmare needs to end."

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.