It doesn't surprise me that he will pick people that he believes are very loyal to himself.

And that's been a part of the process.

Every president wants people that are loyal to themselves.

But I'll also share with you that Chris Ray, you know, who the president nominated the first time around.

And I think the president picked a very good man to be the director of the FBI when he did that in his first term.

When we meet with him behind closed doors, I've had no objections to the way that he's handled himself.

And so I don't have any complaints about the way that he's done his job right now.

Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota expressing his support for current FBI director Christopher Ray.

After Donald Trump announced over the weekend, he will nominate loyalist Cash Patel to that position, one which shouldn't normally even be open for a nomination. We'll have the latest about that

controversial selection from the president-elect. Also ahead, we'll dig into newly surfaced

allegations against Trump's pick for Defense Secretary Pete Hagseth as reports of whistleblowers

have surfaced detailing years of troubling behavior.

And we'll go through President Biden's pardon of his son Hunter, who was set to be sentenced

later this month on federal tax evasion and gun charges.

Good morning.

And welcome to morning, Joe.

It is Monday, December 2nd. With us,

we have the host of way too early, Jonathan Lemire, and President Emeritus of the Council on

Foreign Relations, Richard Haas. He's the author of the weekly newsletter, Home and Away, available

on Substack. We've got a lot of great guests straight ahead to talk about the two big stories this

morning. One, of course, Cash Mattel, two, the breaking news overnight regarding Pete Hagseth.

More information will also get to the Hunter Biden pardon later. But just at first, Jonathan O'Meer,

...