Patel, who held several senior management positions, was named Miller ‘s chief of staff a few days after the general election and is widely regarded as loyal to Trump.
Captured by a Washington Post photographer, the images prompted immediate questions about Trump’s final moves as president. But according to two government officials, Trump has discussed with others the idea of installing Patel as acting director of the CIA before.
Trump was on the verge of firing CIA director Gina Haspel several times, only to be pulled back, several sources previously told CNN. In December, he and others devised a plan to end Haspel and put Patel in charge of the CIA. Multiple options were discussed, including firing Haspel’s deputy Vaughn Bishop and replacing him with Patel, who they believed would force Haspel to resign, and also firing both and making Patel acting director.
But sources told CNN that the president gave up on the idea after advisers convinced him that firing Haspel with only a few weeks to go before the presidency was counterproductive.
While it was not immediately clear whether the president discussed the issue of CIA leadership with Lindell during his visit to the White House on Friday, his mention in Lindell’s notes renewed speculation that the issue is not debatable.
Weeks ago, Trump was considering a broader change in the Cabinet after losing re-election, the sources said.
Miller was appointed to the defense position a few days after the election. He and Patel worked together on counterterrorism issues at the National Security Council early in Trump’s term.
If the idea is really being considered with a few days to go before Trump’s term, trying to put Patel in charge of the country’s prominent intelligence service would require an enormous amount of last-minute bureaucratic gymnastics. Current officials and former officials said that not only Haspel would need to be removed, but his deputy, Bishop, as well.
Asked if there was any way for Trump to make such an important change with just a few days left, a senior administration official said: “Frankly, he is running out of people who would know how to implement these changes. There is no one to do the paperwork, which it’s too complicated for unorthodox personnel changes. “
Lindell confirmed to CNN’s Jim Acosta, who met Trump for about five minutes on Friday and said he tried to deliver to the president what he described as evidence of electoral fraud. Acosta conducted a brief interview with Lindell, who did not substantiate any of his claims, but merely echoed some of the same false conspiracy theories launched by Trump since the election.
Lindell said Trump had told him to hand over his material to lawyers working in the White House, who would investigate him.
Asked if he believes Democrat Joe Biden won the presidential election, Lindell said he didn’t.
“No, he didn’t win the election, because I saw it,” said Lindell.
Patel did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. The CIA, the Pentagon, the White House and the National Security Council also did not immediately respond to questions from CNN.