Senate Republicans are under growing pressure from prominent former Republican officials to reject President Trump’s pick to head the FBI, Kash Patel, setting the stage for another bruising confirmation later this week.

Patel has drawn strong opposition from former Republican national security and law enforcement leaders, such as former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, former Trump Attorney General William Barr and former Trump Defense Secretary Mike Esper, who have questioned Patel’s fitness for the job.

Bolton compared Patel to a “climbing weed” who “doesn’t show respect for the limits” and called new allegations that Patel broke protocol during a hostage rescue operation “stunning.”

Barr recalled in his memoir that he adamantly opposed a push to promote Patel to serve as deputy FBI director during Trump’s first term and told then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows it would happen “over my dead body.”

Esper, who headed the Pentagon from 2019-20, said Patel almost compromised a special forces operation to rescue an American hostage in West Africa by leading his superiors to falsely believe American forces had airspace clearance to conduct the operation.

A spokesperson for Patel denied that claim last month and asserted Patel excelled as a terrorism prosecutor for the Department of Justice.

More than 20 Republican former law enforcement officials sent a letter to Republican senators Tuesday urging them to oppose Patel.

They warned that Patel lacks the........

© The Hill