Kash Patel

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Kash Patel
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Patel in 2022
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Presumptive nominee
Assuming office
TBD [a]

Kashyap Pramod Vinod Patel (born February 25, 1980) is an American lawyer and former federal prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice. Previously, he served as Chief of Staff to the acting U.S. secretary of defense Christopher C. Miller, and senior advisor to the acting director of national intelligence Richard Grenell, both during the first presidency of Donald Trump. In November 2024, President-elect Trump nominated Patel to succeed Christopher A. Wray as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Contents

A member of the Republican Party, Patel was appointed senior counsel on counterterrorism for the House Select Committee on Intelligence in 2017, as well as senior director of the Counterterrorism Directorate at the U.S. National Security Council in 2019. He worked as a senior aide to Congressman Devin Nunes during the latter's tenure as chair of the House Intelligence Committee. While working with Nunes, Patel played a key role in helping Republicans in the investigations into Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Patel was instrumental in drafting the Nunes memo in 2018, which alleged errors in the FBI application for a surveillance warrant of Trump's 2016 campaign aide. Following his departure from government service, Patel has promoted several pro-Trump conspiracy theories and branded merchandise under the logotype 'K$H'.

Early life and education

Kashyap Pramod Vinod Patel [1] [2] was born on February 25, 1980, [3] in Garden City, New York, to Indian Gujarati immigrant parents. [4] [5] His parents first moved to Canada in the early 1970s from East Africa, where they were facing ethnic repression. [4] [6] Subsequently, they moved to the United States and his father started working as a financial officer at an aviation firm. [7] Patel was raised Hindu. [7] [8] Patel graduated from Garden City High School on Long Island.

After high school, Patel earned a Bachelor of Arts in history and criminal justice from the University of Richmond in 2002. [9] He completed his Juris Doctor at Pace University School of Law, New York in 2005, and obtained a certificate in international law from University College London, England in 2004. [10] [11] [5] [12]

Career

Early career

After law school, Patel moved to Florida and spent eight years as a public defender, first in the Miami-Dade County public defender's office and later as a federal public defender. [12] [13] As a public defender he represented clients charged with felonies including international drug trafficking, murder, firearms violations, and bulk cash smuggling. [13] [14]

In 2014, Patel was hired as a trial attorney in the United States Department of Justice National Security Division, where he simultaneously served as a legal liaison to the Joint Special Operations Command. [12] [14] In 2017, Patel was appointed senior counsel on counterterrorism at the House Intelligence Committee. [12] [10] [b]

Aide to Devin Nunes

In April 2017, Patel became the senior committee aide to House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes. [16] [17] Patel played a prominent role in the Republican opposition to the investigations into Donald Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 election. [17] [18]

According to The New York Times , Patel was the primary author of the 2018 Nunes memo, alleging FBI misconduct in its application for a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) for electronic surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. [19] That claim was disputed by the committee's staff director, by a spokesman for Nunes, and by unattributed sources interviewed by India Abroad . Patel did not offer a public comment on the matter. [15] The New York Times opined that the memo was widely dismissed as "biased" containing "cherry-picked facts", but "it galvanized President Trump's allies and made Mr. Patel a hero among them". [20]

After Democrats took control of the House of Representatives in January 2019, [21] Patel worked for about a month as a senior counsel at the House Reform and Oversight Committee. [22]

Executive branch

Positions

Patel was hired in February 2019 as a staffer for President Donald Trump's National Security Council (NSC), working in the International Organizations and Alliances directorate, [23] and in July 2019 became Senior Director of the Counterterrorism Directorate, [24] a new position created for him. [23] According to The Wall Street Journal , Patel led a secret mission to Damascus in early 2020 to negotiate the release of Majd Kamalmaz and journalist Austin Tice, both of whom were being held by the Syrian government. [12] [25]

In February 2020, Patel moved to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), [26] becoming a principal deputy [14] [27] to Acting Director Richard Grenell. Later that month, Patel was part of Trump's entourage during the state visit of the United States to the Republic of India and was noted in press reports as one of two Americans of Indian descent to accompany the president. [28] [29] [c]

Trump–Ukraine scandal

Within months of Patel's appointment to the NSC, it was suspected that Patel had assumed the role of an additional independent back channel for the President, which was seen as potentially detrimental to American policy in Ukraine. It was noticed that during NSC meetings Patel took few notes and was underqualified for his portfolio, the United Nations. [20] [23]

Red flags were raised when Trump referred to Patel as "one of his top Ukraine policy specialists" and as such wished "to discuss related documents with him". Patel's actual assignment was counter-terrorism issues, rather than Ukraine. He was thought to have operated independently of Rudy Giuliani's irregular, informal channel. Impeachment inquiry witnesses were asked what they knew about Patel. Fiona Hill told investigators that it seems "Patel was improperly becoming involved in Ukraine policy and was sending information to Mr. Trump." Gordon Sondland and Kent testified they did not come across Patel in the course of their work. [20] [ failed verification ]

In an October 2019 story, Politico , citing an anonymous source it reported had formerly worked at the White House, wrote that Patel had "unique access" to Trump and had provided "out of scope" advice to him on the United States' Ukraine policy. [23] [30] Patel denied the claims and, the following month, sued Politico for defamation, seeking $25 million in damages. [30] [d] [ needs update ]

On December 3, 2019, the House Intelligence Committee's report included phone records, acquired via subpoenas to AT&T and/or Verizon, including a 25-minute phone call between Patel and Giuliani on May 10, 2019. [32] : 58  The call occurred after Giuliani and Patel attempted to call each other for several hours, and less than an hour after a call between Giuliani and Kurt Volker. [32] : 58  Five minutes after the 25-minute call between Giuliani and Patel, an unidentified phone number called Giuliani for over 17 minutes, after which Giuliani called his associate Lev Parnas for approximately 12 minutes. [32] : 58  In a statement to CBS News on December 4, 2019, Patel denied being part of Giuliani's Ukraine back-channel, saying he was "never a back channel to President Trump on Ukraine matters, at all, ever", [33] and that his call with Giuliani was "personal". [34]

Proposed move to lead either FBI or CIA

Trump proposed Patel as a potential leader for either the FBI or CIA in early 2021 following the 2020 United States presidential election. Trump had considered installing Patel as either CIA deputy director or acting director, which would have required firing the existing director Gina Haspel. [35] This proposal faced significant resistance, including from Attorney General William Barr, who wrote in his memoir that Patel would become FBI director only "over his dead body". [36] [37] [35]

U.S. Department of Defense

Patel traveling with Acting Secretary Miller on January 14, 2021 Kash Patel and Chris Miller 210114-D-BN624-0319 (50836026918).jpg
Patel traveling with Acting Secretary Miller on January 14, 2021

In November 2020, Trump named Patel chief of staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher C. Miller, a move that followed Trump's firing of Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. [38] Patel reportedly argued that Esper was disloyal to Trump by refusing to deploy military troops to Washington to quell the George Floyd protests. [17] Patel remained at the Pentagon for three months. [9]

Foreign Policy magazine connected the move to Trump's "refusal to accept the election results". [39] Based on interviews with defense experts, Alex Ward of Vox suggested that Patel's appointment was "not sinister", would "not change much", and may have served an effort to accelerate the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. [40] According to an unnamed source quoted by Vanity Fair , Miller was a "front man" during his time as Acting Secretary of Defense while Patel and Cohen-Watnick were "calling the shots" at the Department of Defense. [37] Another source told the magazine that Patel was the most influential person in the U.S. government on matters of national security. [37]

After the November 2020 election, Patel reportedly blocked some Department of Defense officials from helping the Biden administration transition, according to NBC. [16] As chief of staff, Patel was designated to lead the Department of Defense's coordination with Joe Biden's presidential transition, and also supported a departmental initiative to separate the National Security Agency from the U.S. Cyber Command. [18] [41]

Post-government activities (2020–2024)

Patel has widely been described by news organizations as a "Trump loyalist". [18] [16] [42] Since 2020, Patel has invoked his association with Donald Trump into "enterprises he promotes under the logotype 'K$H'". [9] In April 2022, Patel became a member of the board of directors for the Trump Media & Technology Group, owner of the Truth Social media platform. [43] Patel promoted multiple pro-Trump conspiracy theories and appeared on far-right podcasts such as Stew Peters and co-hosted a talkshow on The Epoch Times. Patel also sold branded merchandise such as supplements that he says detoxifies the body of the negative effects COVID-19 vaccines. [44]

Patel is the author of a children's picture book, titled The Plot Against the King, which argues that the Steele dossier was used as evidence to initiate the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. Illustrated by Laura Vincent, the book was published in May 2022 by Brave Books. [45] [46]

In 2023, Patel published the book Government Gangsters, a partial memoir that criticizes the "deep state". [47] In his book Government Gangsters, Patel wrote a list of 60 people who, he believed, were members of the deep state, which included: [48] [49] Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Merrick Garland, Bill Barr, Robert Mueller, James Comey, Mark Esper, and Robert Hur, among others.

On June 19, 2022, Trump sent a letter to the National Archives naming Patel and John Solomon as "representatives for access to Presidential records of my administration". [50] In 2022, Patel created Fight With Kash, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charity, to raise donations for "helping other people" in need, though more specifically to bring "America First patriots" together and "helping fight the Deep State". Patel said he "funded whistleblowers campaigns", which Democrats on the Republican-controlled House Judiciary weaponization subcommittee said included former FBI employees the FBI claimed endorse "an alarming series of conspiracy theories related to the January 6 Capitol attack  ... and the validity of the 2020 election". During a December 2023 appearance on Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast, Patel concurred with Bannon's assertions that Donald Trump is "dead serious" about his intent to seek revenge against his political enemies should he be elected in 2024. Patel stated:

"We will go out and find the conspirators — not just in government, but in the media ... we're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections ... We're going to come after you. Whether it's criminally or civilly, we'll figure that out. But yeah, we're putting you all on notice, and Steve, this is why they hate us. This is why we're tyrannical. This is why we're dictators ... Because we're actually going to use the Constitution to prosecute them for crimes they said we have always been guilty of but never have." [51]

Patel's remarks came during concurrent reporting in The New York Times about "a series of plans by Mr. Trump and his allies that would upend core elements of American governance, democracy, foreign policy and the rule of law if he regained the White House". Axios reported days later that Patel was being considered for a top national security position in a second Trump administration. [51] [52] [53]

In December 2024, The New York Times reported that Patel had made several misleading claims about his role in the 2012 Benghazi attack investigation while at the Department of Justice. According to current and former law enforcement officials interviewed by the Times, Patel overstated his importance in the investigation and distorted the department's broader efforts. While Patel claimed he was "leading the prosecution's efforts at Main Justice", officials said he held a junior position in the counterterrorism section supporting the investigation, which was run by prosecutors at the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C. along with FBI agents and analysts. [54]

The Times also reported that Patel's claims about the prosecution of Ahmed Abu Khattala were inaccurate. While Patel suggested Khattala would be released from prison before the 2028 election, Khattala was actually sentenced to 28 years in prison in September 2024 after an appeals court ruled his original 22-year sentence was too low. [54]

Nomination as Director of the FBI

In November 2024, Trump nominated Patel as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to succeed Christopher A. Wray. [55] If confirmed, Patel would be the FBI's 9th Director and its first Indian American leader, as well as its youngest director. [56]

Trump cited Patel's role in "uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax" and his advocacy for "truth, accountability and the Constitution" in announcing the nomination. [55]

Following his nomination, Patel was targeted by Iranian hackers, who accessed some of his communications. [57]

Involvement in Trump documents investigation

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) found in 2021 that Trump had taken presidential documents with him to his home in Florida after leaving office. After Trump returned some documents, NARA found others were still missing, including some that were highly classified. NARA referred the matter to the FBI, and after requests and a subpoena to return the documents went unheeded, the FBI entered Trump's home under a search warrant to retrieve them. Patel publicly asserted that Trump had declassified broad sets of sensitive documents before leaving the White House. In October 2022, Patel was summoned to testify before a federal grand jury investigating the matter, but he declined to answer questions by invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Patel was represented in the matter by lawyer Stanley Woodward. [58] [59] The Justice Department sought unsuccessfully to persuade a federal judge to compel Patel's testimony. Justice Department prosecutors granted him limited immunity from prosecution, after which Patel testified on November 4, 2022. [59] [60]

Political views

Promotion of conspiracy theories

Patel has promoted multiple conspiracy theories, [e] and has been described as a conspiracy theorist. [63] [65] Conspiracy theories promoted by Patel include the deep state conspiracy theory, false claims about 2020 election fraud, QAnon, COVID-19 vaccines, and false claims that the FBI instigated the January 6 United States Capitol attack. [44] [61] [e]

Patel has expanded on his view of a deep state in the United States in his 2023 book Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy, which Trump praised as a "roadmap to end the Deep State's reign". [61] [63]

Patel has actively promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory. On Truth Social, Patel promoted an account with the handle @Q, which distributed messages related to the conspiratorial movement. According to Media Matters, Patel has shared an image featuring a flaming Q on it and has gone on multiple Qanon shows in order to urge members to join Truth Social. [62] Patel said in 2022 that Truth Social was trying to adopt Qanon "into our overall messaging scheme to capture audiences", and that the figurehead of the Qanon movement "should get credit for all the things he has accomplished". [64] [66] Patel has appeared on multiple far-right podcasts promoting conspiracy theories such as on Stew Peters, and appeared over 50 times in at least a dozen podcasts that have promoted the QAnon movement. [44]

Patel has signed ten copies of his children's book about "King Donald" with the Qanon motto "WWG1WGA" ("where we go one, we go all"). He has also promoted the #WWG1WGA hashtag on Truth Social. [62] [67] Also on Truth Social, Patel has promoted the use of pills that, he said, reversed the effects of COVID-19 vaccines. [6] [68]

Personal life

Patel resides in Washington, D.C. [13] He plays ice hockey. [14] In 2014, according to the legal website Above the Law, Patel agreed to participate in a so-called bachelor auction of "very handsome lawyers" to benefit Switchboard of Miami, a social services organization. [69] He later withdrew from the auction after noting that his Florida bar status was inactive at that time. [70] [71]

Notes

  1. ↑ Appointment after Senate confirmation for this position.
  2. ↑ According to The New York Times , Patel was the primary author of the Nunes memo, but that claim was disputed by the committee's staff director, by a spokesman for Nunes, and by unattributed sources interviewed by India Abroad . [15] Patel did not offer a public comment on the matter. [15]
  3. ↑ The other was Ajit Pai. [29]
  4. ↑ As of January 2021, the case was being heard in the circuit court of Henrico County, Virginia. [31]
  5. 1 2 Multiple sources have described Patel's embrace of conspiracy theories: [61] [62] [6] [63] [64] [65] [44]

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References

  1. ↑ "Who is Kash Patel, the Trump loyalist tapped to run the FBI?".
  2. ↑ "Congressional Salaries of Kash Patel | LegiStorm".
  3. ↑ "Who is Kash Patel, the 'America First' champion chosen by Trump to head FBI?". Hindustan Times.
  4. 1 2 "Kash Patel's rise as FBI chief sparks joy in Gujrati diaspora". The Times of India . December 3, 2024. Retrieved December 5, 2024. Patel's parents were Indian-origin residents of East Africa.. Fleeing anti-Indian persecution in the 1970s in Uganda the family first moved to Canada and later settled in the US
  5. 1 2 Haniffa, Aziz (August 13, 2019). "Trump admirer Kashyap 'Kash' Patel lands important White House position". India Abroad. Archived from the original on December 23, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 Plott Calabro, Elaina (August 26, 2024). "The Man Who Will Do Anything for Trump". The Atlantic . Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  7. 1 2 "Unravelling personal life of anti-'deep state' crusader and Trump's FBI pick". Hindustan Times . December 1, 2024. Retrieved December 5, 2024. his father immigrated to the US from Uganda in the 1970s amid Idi Amin's repressive rule
  8. ↑ Patel, Kash Pramod (September 26, 2023). Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy. New York City: Simon and Schuster. pp. 114–115. ISBN   978-1-63758-825-3.
  9. 1 2 3 Williamson, Elizabeth (October 16, 2024). "Swift Rise Puts Trump Loyalist in the Spotlight: Bluster Masks Lack of Experience, Foes Say. Eager Loyalist Rises Quickly Despite Lack of Experience". The New York Times . Vol. 174, no. 60309. pp. A1, A15. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  10. 1 2 "Who is Kashyap 'Kash' Patel?". The Indian Express . February 3, 2018. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Who is Kashyap Patel, Indian-American official named as source for Ukraine info at Trump impeachment". Gulf News . November 22, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Indian-American named Chief of Staff". The Times of India . November 11, 2020. Archived from the original on March 30, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  13. 1 2 3 Patel v. Politico LLC et al (Report). United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. January 1, 2019. Case 3:19-cv-00879-MHL, Exhibit 1. Archived from the original on March 30, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
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  17. 1 2 3 Strobel, Warren P.; Youssef, Nancy A. (November 10, 2020). "White House National Security Council Aide Is Named to Top Pentagon Post". The Wall Street Journal . ISSN   0099-9660. Archived from the original on June 6, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  18. 1 2 3 Feldscher, Jacqueline (November 24, 2020). "Kash Patel, recently installed Trump loyalist, now leading Pentagon transition". Politico . Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  19. ↑ Ignatius, David (April 17, 2021). "How Kash Patel rose from obscure Hill staffer to key operative in Trump's battle with the intelligence community". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  20. 1 2 3 Barnes, Julian E.; Goldman, Adam; Fandos, Nicholas (October 23, 2019). "White House Aides Feared That Trump Had Another Ukraine Back Channel". The New York Times . Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  21. ↑ Snell, Kelsey (November 6, 2018). "Election Results Give Split Decision: Democrats Win House & GOP Keeps Senate Majority". NPR . Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Kash Patel - Biography". www.legistorm.com. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  23. 1 2 3 4 Bertrand, Natasha (October 23, 2019). "Nunes protégé fed Ukraine info to Trump". Politico . Archived from the original on October 24, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  24. ↑ Swan, Betsy (July 31, 2019). "Nunes Ally Kash Patel Who Fought Russia Probe Gets Senior White House National Security Job". The Daily Beast . Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  25. ↑ "White House official held secret talks in Syria to free US citizens". The Jerusalem Post . Reuters. October 19, 2020. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  26. ↑ Lippman, Daniel (February 20, 2020). "NSC aide who worked to discredit Russia probe moves to senior ODNI post". POLITICO. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  27. ↑ Jha, Lalit K (December 17, 2020). "Indian-American Pentagon official Kash Patel sues CNN, seeks USD 50 mn for defamation". Yahoo . Press Trust of India. Archived from the original on March 30, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  28. ↑ Roy, Shubhajit (February 23, 2020). "Trump's visit: Two Indian-Americans part of US President's 16-member delegation". India Abroad. Archived from the original on March 13, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  29. 1 2 Duttagupta, Ishani (February 15, 2020). "US President's delegation to India may include several Indian American officials". Economic Times . Archived from the original on March 30, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  30. 1 2 Irby, Kate (November 18, 2019). "Devin Nunes' lawyer files another defamation lawsuit, this time for White House official". Fresno Bee . Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  31. ↑ Patel v Politico, LLC et al (Report). Circuit Court of Henrico County, Virginia. CL19006745-00.
  32. 1 2 3 "Report of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Pursuant to H. Res. 660 in Consultation with the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs" (PDF). United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. December 3, 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  33. ↑ "CBS News Exclusive: White House staffer Kash Patel denies he was back channel to Trump on Ukraine". CBS News . December 5, 2019. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  34. ↑ Falconer, Rebecca (December 5, 2019). "NSC staffer tells CBS phone call with Giuliani listed in impeachment report was "personal"". Axios . Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  35. 1 2 Swan, Jonathan (January 18, 2021). "Episode 5: The secret CIA plan". Axios . Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  36. ↑ Barrett, Devlin; Haberman, Maggie (November 30, 2024). "Trump Says He Will Nominate Kash Patel to Run F.B.I." The New York Times .
  37. 1 2 3 Ciralsky, Adam (January 22, 2021). "Embedding with Pentagon Leadership in Trump's Chaotic Last Week". Vanity Fair . Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  38. ↑ "Indian-American Kash Patel Named Chief Of Staff To Acting US Defence Secretary". NDTV . Press Trust of India. November 11, 2020. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  39. ↑ Deutsch, Jack; Gramer, Robbie (November 10, 2020). "More Top Pentagon Officials Out After Trump Sacks Esper". Foreign Policy . Archived from the original on February 12, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  40. ↑ Ward, Alex (November 11, 2020). "Why Trump is suddenly replacing Pentagon officials with loyalists". Vox . Archived from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  41. ↑ Volz, Dustin (December 20, 2020). "Defense Officials Push Proposal to Separate NSA, Cyber Command". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  42. ↑ Swan, Jonathan (January 16, 2021). "Gina Haspel threatened to resign over plan to install Trump loyalist Kash Patel as CIA deputy". Axios. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  43. ↑ Goldstein, Matthew (April 25, 2022). "Trump Media adds former Devin Nunes aides, Donald Jr. and "Apprentice" contestant as officers" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on April 25, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  44. 1 2 3 4 Joffe-Block, Jude; Hagen, Lisa; Nguyen, Audrey (December 10, 2024). "How Kash Patel has used children's books and podcasts to promote conspiracy theories". NPR. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  45. ↑ Lowell, Hugo (May 16, 2022). "Former Trump official Kash Patel writes children's book repeating false claim over Steele dossier". The Guardian, US Edition. Guardian News & Media Limited. Archived from the original on May 21, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  46. ↑ "The Plot Against the King". Brave Books. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  47. ↑ "What to know about Kash Patel, Trump's pick to lead the FBI". Associated Press. November 30, 2024. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
  48. ↑ Corn, David (2024). "Here Are the Republicans Kash Patel Wants to Target". Mother Jones.
  49. ↑ "The Who's Who on Kash Patel's Crazy Enemies List". The New Republic. ISSN   0028-6583 . Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  50. ↑ Bump, Philip (August 15, 2022). "Analysis - http which Democrats called timing of Trump naming two allies to access his records suspicious". The Washington Post . Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  51. 1 2 Fortinsky, Sarah (December 5, 2023). "Bannon, Patel say Trump 'dead serious' about revenge on media: 'We're going to come after you'". The Hill.
  52. ↑ Swan, Jonathan; Haberman, Maggie; Savage, Charlie (December 4, 2023). "How Trump and His Allies Plan to Wield Power in 2025". The New York Times .
  53. ↑ Allen, Mike; VandeHei, Jim (December 7, 2023). "Behind the Curtain — Exclusive: How Trump would build his loyalty-first Cabinet". Axios .
  54. 1 2 Goldman, Adam; Savage, Charlie; Sullivan, Eileen (December 13, 2024). "Patel Distorts Justice Dept. Benghazi Inquiry, Inflating His Role". The New York Times . Archived from the original on December 13, 2024. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  55. 1 2 Barrett, Devlin (November 30, 2024). "Trump Says He Will Replace F.B.I. Director With Kash Patel". The New York Times . Retrieved November 30, 2024.
  56. ↑ "Trump picks loyalist ex-aide as FBI director". BBC. November 30, 2024. Retrieved November 30, 2024. The son of Indian immigrants, Patel is a former defence lawyer and federal prosecutor
  57. ↑ Lybrand, Kristen Holmes, Evan Perez, Holmes (December 4, 2024). "Kash Patel, Trump's pick to lead FBI, has been targeted in an Iranian hack, sources say | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved December 4, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  58. ↑ Cheney, Kyle (November 30, 2022). "Meet the legal nerd who MAGA bigwigs are turning to for help". Politico .
  59. 1 2 Howell, Hugo (November 4, 2022). "Top Trump adviser granted immunity testifies in Mar-a-Lago papers case". The Guardian .
  60. ↑ Gurman, Sadie; Leary, Alex (November 2, 2022). "Trump Aide, Granted Immunity, Set to Testify at Grand Jury Probing Mar-a-Lago Documents". The Wall Street Journal .
  61. 1 2 3 Barber, Rachel; Bailey, Phillip M. "Who is Kash Patel? 5 things to know about Donald Trump's firebrand pick to lead the FBI". USA Today . Retrieved December 2, 2024. Patel has pushed extensive conspiracy theories about federal government employees, Trump critics, the 2020 presidential election, the COVID-19 vaccine and more.
  62. 1 2 3 Corn, David (December 1, 2024). "How Kash Patel, Trump's FBI pick, embraced the unhinged QAnon movement". Mother Jones . Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  63. 1 2 3 Pilkington, Ed (December 1, 2024). "Conspiracy theorist Kash Patel, Trump's pick to lead FBI, faces Senate blowback". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  64. 1 2 Suderman, Alan; Linderman, Juliet (July 9, 2024). "Kash Patel is pushing conspiracies and his brand. He's poised to help lead a Trump administration". The Associated Press. Many who worked with Patel before he joined the Trump administration said he was an ambitious if not exceptional lawyer whose quick rise and far-right tilt have left them stunned .. A trusted aide and swaggering campaign surrogate who mythologizes the former president while promoting conspiracy theories and his own brand.
  65. 1 2 Del Rey, Michelle (November 30, 2024). "Trump picks MAGA loyalist Kash Patel as his new FBI director". The Independent. Retrieved December 12, 2024. A conspiracy theorist who wants to restrain federal law enforcement agencies, Patel has advocated for firing workers and going on a prosecution spree to fulfill Trump's promise of retribution.
  66. ↑ Bensinger, Ken; Haberman, Maggie (January 28, 2023). "Trump's Evolution in Social-Media Exile: More QAnon, More Extremes". The New York Times .
  67. ↑ Papenfuss, Mary (September 25, 2022). "Trump Loyalist Kash Patel Touts QAnon Greeting In His 'King Donald' Children's Book". Huffington Post . Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  68. ↑ Liddell, James (December 2, 2024). "Kash Patel's King Donald books and other MAGA merch ventures". The Independent . Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  69. ↑ Zaretsky, Staci (January 17, 2014). "Very Prestigious Lawyers Are Selling Themselves To Women For The Highest Price". Above the Law . Archived from the original on March 30, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  70. ↑ "Kashyap Patel, The Florida Bar Member Profile". The Florida bar. April 20, 2006. Retrieved December 7, 2024. Elected status: Inactive
  71. ↑ Rogers, Katie; Rosenberg, Matthew (February 2, 2018). "Kashyap Patel, Main Author of Secret Memo, Is No Stranger to Quarrels". The New York Times . Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
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