Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick for the director of the FBI, is facing scrutiny from Senate Democrats over his business dealings with foreign clients and Trump’s media company.
According to regulatory files acquired by CNBC, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) paid Patel over $700,000 in stock “as consideration for services provided” between late March and Dec. 25. In addition to Patel, some of the other recipients include Donald Trump Jr. and Linda McMahon, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education, former U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer, Eric Swider, and Kyle Green.
According to Patel, he did “not accept” the stocks to “to avoid any appearance of any conflict”.
A report by The Washington Post found out that Patel was paid $25,000 by Global Tree Pictures, a Los Angeles-based film company owned by Igor Lopatonok, a Russian national who holds U.S. citizenship. Reportedly, Lopatonok paid Patel for his participation in the documentary series, All the President’s Men: The Conspiracy Against Trump, which aired on Tucker Carlson’s online network.
The series painted Patel and other members of Trump’s first administration as victims of a conspiracy that “destroyed the lives of those who stood by Donald Trump in an attempt to remove the democratically elected president from office.”. Patel stated that he would “shut down the FBI headquarters building and open it up as a museum to the ‘deep state.”, in one segment.
Many of Lopatonok’s projects have featured staunch pro-Russian and pro-Kremlin stances, such as an influence campaign that was boosted a fund created by Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president. Lopatonok previously blasted the 2014 Euromaidan protests that ousted Ukraine’s pro-Russian president. According to a document obtained by The Post, Lopatonok proposed a new project that aimed to cut military aid to Ukraine from the “United States and its satellites” and to stop “financing the war”, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Patel’s financial disclosure, which was acquired by progressive advocacy group Accountable.US, also revealed that he holds between $1 and $5 million worth of stock for Elite Deposit Ltd., the Cayman Islands-based parent company of Shein. As mentioned by Fortune, the Shein is based in Singapore, but produces most of its products in China.
The fast fashion giant has faced increased bipartisan criticism in recent years over its business practices, which include the reported use of cotton from Xinjiang, China’s westernmost province, in its products, and the use of forced Uyghur labor. In Xinjiang, the Chinese government has been accused of imprisoning members of majority-Muslim ethnic groups, such as Uyghurs, in mass detention camps.
“It’s hard to take known grifter Kash Patel at his word he will fight human trafficking after getting rich consulting for a Chinese fast fashion company notorious for its forced labor.”, said Tony Carrk, Accountable.US’s executive director. “Since Secretary Rubio and Senator Cotton have spoken out about Shein’s exploitative business practices, will they also raise red flags about their preferred FBI Director candidate profiting off it?”
“If they remain silent, it’d be just the latest case of conservatives in power putting loyalty to President Trump above all else, even their own supposed values.”
Another one of Patel’s consultants was Prague-based arms company, The Czechoslovak Group, or CSG. Patel’s consulting with CSG last year coincided with the companies CSG’s purchase of Vista Outdoor, the parent company of American arms brands such as Federal and Remington. This move was criticized by Senate Republicans, including future Vice President JD Vance, who accused CSG of having ties to Putin’s inner circle, and demanded that then-president Joe Biden to investigate the purchase.
According to Fortune, some of his other clients included the U.S. Embassy of Qatar and a California-based company that rents out metal storage tanks.
As mentioned by MSNBC and The Independent, the committee vote on Patel’s nomination was postponed by a week by Senate Democrats on Feb. 6, who argued that he is an inexperienced extremist that will use the FBI to attack Trump’s opponents. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin aims to bring back Patel for further questioning regarding the firings of FBI and DOJ staff who worked on investigations on the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on Patel’s nomination tomorrow.
If given power, Patel has sworn to target the media. Patel currently serves as a board member for TMTG but said that he would resign from the company if confirmed.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
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