section_path: Legal and governmental career (2006–2020)/Chief of staff to the secretary of defense (2020–2021)
section_name: Chief of staff to the secretary of defense (2020–2021)
paragraph_text: Chief of staff to the secretary of defense (2020–2021)
  
  In November 2020, Trump dismissed Esper, naming Christopher C. Miller as acting defense secretary. Patel was appointed Miller's chief of staff; he previously worked for Miller at the National Security Council and was well-regarded by him, according to The Washington Post. A senior national security official who spoke to Vanity Fair ' s Adam Ciralsky described Miller as a "frontman", while Patel and Ezra Cohen, the under secretary of defense for intelligence, were "calling all the shots". Patel oversaw the Department of Defense 's transition efforts during the presidential transition of Joe Biden; according to The New York Times, transition officials expressed distrust of Patel, viewing him as a Trump loyalist. He faced allegations that he was intentionally blocking the transition. The Department of Defense denied those reports, saying that he had delegated his responsibility to another transition official. Patel supported an internal proposal to separate the National Security Agency from United States Cyber Command. Documents provided to the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack and accounts of officials allege that Patel discussed security at the Capitol before and during the January 6 Capitol attack, and that he repeatedly contacted Mark Meadows, Trump's chief of staff, on the day of the attack. He was in Miller's office during the attack.
  
  In April, Trump devised a plan to oust FBI director Christopher A. Wray and to appoint William Evanina to lead the bureau, while Patel would become deputy director. Attorney General William Barr halted the plan, threatening to resign. In January 2021, Axios reported that Trump sought to appoint Patel as the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency in December 2020. In response, CIA director Gina Haspel threatened to resign. At the annual Army–Navy Game that month, Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confronted White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, repeatedly and loudly asking whether Patel was going to replace Wray or Haspel. In the final days of Trump's presidency, Mike Lindell, the founder and chief executive of My Pillow, went to the White House; Jabin Botsford, a photographer for The Washington Post, captured a document Lindell was holding that read, "Move Kash Patel to CIA Acting". In April 2022, Patel told an audience that he had advised Trump to fire senior Department of Justice officials.
  
  In November 2020, Trump dismissed Esper, naming Christopher C. Miller as acting defense secretary. Patel was appointed Miller's chief of staff; he previously worked for Miller at the National Security Council and was well-regarded by him, according to The Washington Post. A senior national security official who spoke to Vanity Fair ' s Adam Ciralsky described Miller as a "frontman", while Patel and Ezra Cohen, the under secretary of defense for intelligence, were "calling all the shots". Patel oversaw the Department of Defense 's transition efforts during the presidential transition of Joe Biden; according to The New York Times, transition officials expressed distrust of Patel, viewing him as a Trump loyalist. He faced allegations that he was intentionally blocking the transition. The Department of Defense denied those reports, saying that he had delegated his responsibility to another transition official. Patel supported an internal proposal to separate the National Security Agency from United States Cyber Command. Documents provided to the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack and accounts of officials allege that Patel discussed security at the Capitol before and during the January 6 Capitol attack, and that he repeatedly contacted Mark Meadows, Trump's chief of staff, on the day of the attack. He was in Miller's office during the attack.
  
  In April, Trump devised a plan to oust FBI director Christopher A. Wray and to appoint William Evanina to lead the bureau, while Patel would become deputy director. Attorney General William Barr halted the plan, threatening to resign. In January 2021, Axios reported that Trump sought to appoint Patel as the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency in December 2020. In response, CIA director Gina Haspel threatened to resign. At the annual Army–Navy Game that month, Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confronted White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, repeatedly and loudly asking whether Patel was going to replace Wray or Haspel. In the final days of Trump's presidency, Mike Lindell, the founder and chief executive of My Pillow, went to the White House; Jabin Botsford, a photographer for The Washington Post, captured a document Lindell was holding that read, "Move Kash Patel to CIA Acting". In April 2022, Patel told an audience that he had advised Trump to fire senior Department of Justice officials.