Wikipedia

Kash Patel

American government official (born 1980)

Kashyap "Kash" Patel (born February 25, 1980)[1] is an American lawyer, politician and writer. Patel was a U.S. National Security Council official, senior advisor to the acting Director of National Intelligence, and chief of staff to the acting United States secretary of defense during the first Donald Trump presidency.[2][3][4]

Kash Patel
Official portrait, 2020
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Nominee
Assuming office
TBD
PresidentDonald Trump
SucceedingChristopher A. Wray
Personal details
Born
Kashyap Pramod Vinod Patel

(1980-02-25) February 25, 1980 (age 44)
Garden City, New York, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationUniversity of Richmond (BA)
University College London
Pace University (JD)
Occupation
  • Government agent
  • attorney
  • author

Patel is a member of the Republican Party. He was a senior aide to congressman Devin Nunes.[5] He began his career as a federal public defender and worked for the United States Armed Forces.[6]

Patel had an important role in helping Republicans during investigations into Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 election.[7]

In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump named Patel as his nominee for director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to replace Christopher A. Wray.

Early life

change

Patel was born on February 25, 1980, in Garden City, New York. His parents are Indian Gujaratis who immigrated to the United States.[8][9] Patel was raised as a Hindu.[10]

Patel studied history and criminal justice at the University of Richmond.[11] He then went to Pace University School of Law. He also studied at the University College London.[12][13]

Early career

change

After law school, Patel moved to Florida and spent eight years as a public defender. He represented clients charged with felonies including international drug trafficking, murder, firearms violations, and money smuggling.[14]

In 2017, Patel was appointed senior counsel on counterterrorism at the House Intelligence Committee.[15]

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

After Democrats took control of the U.S. House of Representatives in January 2019,[18] Patel worked for about a month as a senior counsel at the House Reform and Oversight Committee.[19]

First Trump presidency

change
 
Patel with Acting Defense Secretary Christopher C. Miller, November 2020

Patel was hired in February 2019 as a staffer for President Donald Trump's National Security Council (NSC) and in July 2019 became Senior Director of the Counterterrorism Directorate.[20] He led a secret mission to Damascus in early 2020 to negotiate the release of American hostages being held by the Syrian government.[21]

In February 2020, Patel moved to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI),[22] becoming a Principal Deputy to Acting Director Richard Grenell.[23]

Trump proposed Patel as a possible leader for either the FBI or CIA in early 2021 after the 2020 United States presidential election. Trump wanted Patel to be either CIA Deputy Director or Acting Director, which would have led to the firing of then-Director Gina Haspel.[24] Many politicians, including from Attorney General William Barr, were against the idea.[25]

In November 2020, Trump named Patel chief of staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher C. Miller, after Trump's firing of Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.[26] Patel reportedly argued that Esper was not loyal to Trump by not wanting to use military troops to Washington to stop the George Floyd protests.[7]

After the November 2020 election, Patel blocked some Department of Defense officials from helping the Joe Biden administration transition.[27][28]

Post-First Trump presidency

change

Patel has been called a "Trump loyalist".[29] In April 2022, Patel became a member of the board of directors for the Trump Media & Technology Group.[30] Patel is the author of a children's picture book, titled The Plot Against the King, that spread false information about the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.[31][32]

Director of the FBI

change

On November 30, 2024, Trump named Patel as his nominee for director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to replace Christopher A. Wray.[33] If confirmed, Patel will become the 9th director as well as the youngest and first Asian-American to fill the position.[33]

Personal life

change

Patel lives in Washington, D.C.[34]

References

change
  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ Lippman, Daniel (February 20, 2020). "NSC aide who worked to discredit Russia probe moves to senior ODNI post". Politico.
  3. ↑ Levine, Mike (March 8, 2023). "Trump loyalist Kash Patel's tax-exempt charity raises questions, experts say". ABC News.
  4. ↑ "Reports: Trump aide Kash Patel offered immunity in Mar-a-Lago documents probe". USA Today. November 2, 2022.
  5. ↑ Rogers, Katie; Rosenberg, Matthew (February 2, 2018). "Kashyap Patel, Main Author of Secret Memo, Is No Stranger to Quarrels". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ Shinkman, Paul (November 12, 2020). "Trump's Pentagon Shake-Up Has Implications for Afghanistan". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Youssef, Warren P. Strobel and 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.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ Plott Calabro, Elaina (August 26, 2024). "The Man Who Will Do Anything for Trump". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  10. ↑ Patel, Kash Pramod (26 September 2023). Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy. Simon and Schuster. pp. 114–115. ISBN 978-1-63758-825-3.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ "Who is Kashyap Patel, Indian-American official named as source for Ukraine info at Trump impeachment". Gulf News. November 22, 2019. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
  13. ↑ "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.
  14. ↑ Patel v. Politico LLC et al (Report). United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. 2019. Case 3:19-cv-00879-MHL, Exhibit 1. Archived from the original on March 30, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Who is Kashyap 'Kash' Patel?". The Indian Express. February 3, 2018. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Trump loyalist Patel limits Biden transition access to Pentagon staff". NBC News. December 5, 2020. Archived from the original on February 19, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ Snell, Kelsey (November 6, 2018). "Election Results Give Split Decision: Democrats Win House & GOP Keeps Senate Majority". NPR. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
  19. ↑ "Kash Patel - Biography". www.legistorm.com. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
  20. ↑ 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.
  21. ↑ "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.
  22. ↑ Lippman, Daniel (February 20, 2020). "NSC aide who worked to discredit Russia probe moves to senior ODNI post". POLITICO. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
  23. ↑ 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.
  24. ↑ Swan, Jonathan (January 18, 2021). "Episode 5: The secret CIA plan". Axios. Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  25. ↑ Barrett, Devlin; Haberman, Maggie (November 30, 2024). "Trump Says He Will Nominate Kash Patel to Run F.B.I." The New York Times.
  26. ↑ "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.
  27. ↑ 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.
  28. ↑ 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.
  29. ↑ 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.
  30. ↑ 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.
  31. ↑ 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.
  32. ↑ "The Plot Against the King". Brave Books. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 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.
  34. ↑ "Kashyap P. Patel, Esq". defense.gov. United States Department of Defense. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.

Other websites

change
Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kash_Patel&oldid=9952396"