FBI director nominee Kash Patel holds more than $1 million of stock in a fashion company founded in China. He established a nonprofit that spent big on promotion but little on its mission. He advised foreign clients, including a Czech arms maker that top Republicans have criticized for being too tight with U.S. adversaries.
Patel entered Trump’s orbit as a congressional staffer of modest means. He has parlayed proximity to Trump and a zeal for self-promotion into consulting contracts, corporate board seats and a role as a sought-after MAGA commentator. It helped swell his net worth to as much as $15 million, reports the Associated Press, citing government financial disclosure forms. Patel's private-sector work is drawing scrutiny from ethics experts and Democrats who say the interests of his former clients could conflict with those of the law enforcement agency he’s likely to lead. Last year, Patel received $25,000 from a Russia-linked production company to participate in a documentary in which he assailed the FBI and called for closing its headquarters, Mother Jones reports.
The scope of Patel’s business dealings with foreign entities is hard to discern because he sometimes has disclosed only minimal information about the nature of his work. They’re coming into focus at a time the Trump administration’s Justice Department intends to scale back enforcement of laws governing foreign lobbying. One client, the clothing company Shein, was established in China, a country U.S. authorities have described as a national security threat. A Patel spokeswoman said he had “countless meetings with senators” where his finances were discussed. “Mr. Patel has gone above and beyond in this advice and consent process,” she said. Craig Holman of the government watchdog Public Citizen said, “The conflicts of interest seem very obvious to me.” Patel helped write a report on the FBI’s investigation into potential ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign. It caught Trump’s attention, paving the way for Patel’s promotion to a series of increasingly high-profile roles in the administration.