David Corn notes Kash Patel laid out his plans in a 2023 book, Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for our Democracy.

“Patel’s list names what would for a MAGA activist be the obvious purported cabalists: President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former CIA chief John Brennan, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, and former or current FBI directors Chris Wray, Robert Mueller, and James Comey…”

“This line-up also includes a number of Republicans and onetime Trump appointees. These include Bill Barr, who served as attorney general for Trump; John Bolton, one of Trump’s national security advisers in his first White House stint; Pat Cipollone, Trump’s White House counsel; Mark Esper, a secretary of defense under Trump; Sarah Isgur Flores, who was head of communications for Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions; Alyssa Farah Griffin, the director of strategic commissions in the Trump White House; and Stephanie Grisham, former chief of staff for Melania Trump…”

“There are other Republicans on Patel’s Deep State inventory: Robert Hur, the US attorney who investigated Biden’s handling of classified documents; Cassidy Hutchinson, the twenty-something aide who worked for Mark Meadows, the final White House chief of staff during the first Trump presidency; Charles Kupperman, a deputy national security adviser for Trump; Ryan McCarthy, a secretary of the Army under Trump; Pat Philbin, a deputy White House counsel for Trump; Rod Rosenstein, a deputy attorney general for Trump; and Miles Taylor, a Department of Homeland Security official under Trump.”

“As President-elect Donald Trump assembles a senior staff and Cabinet for his second administration, there are notable absences: his children,” NBC News reports.

“Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, were omnipresent in his first term — firmly situated in West Wing offices and often credited with (or blamed for) his decisions.”

President-elect Donald Trump named his former once-jailed aide Peter Navarro as senior counselor for trade and manufacturing to the incoming White House, picking a loyal ally to help implement Trump’s broad plan for tariffs, The Hill reports.

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) is lobbying to become Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Drug Enforcement Agency after losing his reelection bid last month, Axios reports.

Trump’s initial pick for the role, Chad Chronister, withdrew from consideration Tuesday under entrenched opposition from the right.

“Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun invested $30 million in President-elect Donald Trump’s crypto project three weeks after the election, helping Trump make a potentially hefty profit,” the Washington Post reports.

“Sun, who recently made headlines for buying, then eating, a $6 million banana art piece, is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission on charges of fraud, market manipulation and other alleged violations.”

“As many as six Senate Republicans, perhaps more, are currently not comfortable supporting Hegseth’s bid to lead the Pentagon as new revelations about his past continue to be made public,” NBC News reports.

CNN: “No Republicans have said they will not support Hegseth, but even some of the GOP senators closest to Trump, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, are now wondering whether Hegseth can survive the tightrope walk to confirmation, sending an ominous signal for the incoming White House.”

Washington Post: “One Senate Republican, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, said that Hegseth would have a ‘hard time’ getting confirmed and described some members as ‘wild cards.'”

Playbook: “He is in a deep hole with Republican senators, one GOP official told us, and there is rising doubt inside the transition that he will be able to dig his way out — particularly with the women senators who are his biggest skeptics.”

Gabriel Sherman: “Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense is a conservative culture warrior, a central-casting alpha male who believes in guns, God, and the primacy of the family unit.”

“The story of his first marriage, which sources say met a contentious end after he admitted to multiple infidelities, holds a key place in Hegseth’s ambition-fueled rise.”

Pete Hegseth told reporters that President-elect Donald Trump has told him to “keep fighting” as he faces serious doubts about his ability to get confirmed as Defense secretary, Politico reports.

Said Hegseth: “I spoke to the president elect this morning. He said, keep going, keep fighting. Why would I back down? I’ve always been a fighter.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is interested in serving in Donald Trump’s administration as defense secretary if formally offered the job, CNN reports.

“President-elect Donald Trump’s support for Pete Hegseth, who he announced as his nominee for defense secretary shortly after Election Day, is wobbling after a crush of controversy over a rape allegation and a 2018 email from Mr. Hegseth’s mother accusing him of a pattern of abuse toward women,” the New York Times reports.

“How Mr. Hegseth fares through a series of tests on Wednesday will be critical for his chances. He is set to meet with key senators, including Joni Ernst of Iowa, a combat veteran who has spoken about being sexually assaulted herself, and his mother is expected to sit for an interview on Fox News. He is also set to start defending himself on television.”

“Mr. Trump has made clear to people close to him that he believes Mr. Hegseth should have been more forthcoming about the problems he would face getting confirmed.”

Washington Post: Republicans take a closer look at Trump’s Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth.