Kashyap Pramod "Kash" Patel (born February 25, 1980)
is an American attorney, children's book author and former government official. He served as chief of staff to the
Acting United States Secretary of Defense under President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
. Patel has worked at the
United States National Security Council
The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Exe ...
and
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
and was previously a federal public defender, a federal prosecutor working on national security cases, and a legal liaison to the
United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...
. He is a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
.
Patel has widely been described by news organizations as a "Trump loyalist".
As an aide to Congressman
Devin Nunes
Devin Gerald Nunes (; born October 1, 1973) is an American businessman and politician who is chief executive officer of the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). Before resigning from the House of Representatives and joining TMTG, Nunes was ...
, Patel played a key role in helping Republican attempts to fight the investigations into Donald Trump and
Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Early life and education
Kashyap "Kash" Patel was born in
Garden City, New York, to
Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
parents who had immigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
from
East Africa, via
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, in 1980.
He graduated from
Garden City High School.
Patel graduated from the
University of Richmond
The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...
in 2002. He received a certificate in
international law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
from
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
in 2004,
and earned a
Juris Doctor from
Pace University School of Law
The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University is the law school of Pace University located in White Plains, New York. Founded in 1976 as Pace Law School, the American Bar Association (ABA) accredited it in 1978. Pace has a top-ranked Envir ...
in 2005.
Career
Early career
After graduating from law school in 2005, Patel worked as a
public defender in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
for eight years, first in the
Miami-Dade County public defender's office and later as a
federal public defender.
As a public defender he represented clients charged with felonies including international
drug trafficking, murder, firearms violations, and bulk cash smuggling.
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
The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) is a joint component command of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and is charged with studying special operations requirements and techniques to ensure interoperability and equi ...
.
During this period he was embedded with a
special mission unit
The term Tier One Special Mission Unit or Special Missions Unit (SMU) is a term sometimes used, particularly in the United States, to describe some highly secretive military special operations forces. Special mission units have been involved in ...
at a "secure facility" and, in 2015, received a commendation from the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
.
In 2017, Patel was appointed senior counsel on counterterrorism at the
House Select Committee on Intelligence
The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a United States congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by ...
.
Aide to Devin Nunes
In April 2017, Patel become the senior committee aide to
House Intelligence Committee
The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Adam Schiff. It is the primary committ ...
chair Devin Nunes.
He played a prominent role in the Republican opposition to the investigations into Donald Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 election.
According to ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', Patel was the primary author of the 2018
Nunes memo
The Nunes memo (formally titled ''Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Abuses at the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation'') is a four-page memorandum written for U.S. Representative Devin Nunes by his staff and releas ...
, alleging
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
misconduct in its application for a warrant from the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), also called the FISA Court, is a U.S. federal court established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to oversee requests for surveillance warrants ag ...
for electronic surveillance of former Trump campaign aide
Carter Page
Carter William Page (born June 3, 1971) is an American petroleum industry consultant and a former foreign-policy adviser to Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential election campaign. Page is the founder and managing partner of Global Energy C ...
.
That claim was disputed by the committee's staff director, by a spokesman for
Devin Nunes
Devin Gerald Nunes (; born October 1, 1973) is an American businessman and politician who is chief executive officer of the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). Before resigning from the House of Representatives and joining TMTG, Nunes was ...
, and by unattributed sources interviewed by ''
India Abroad
''India Abroad'' is a weekly newspaper published from New York City, which focuses on Indian news meant for an Indian American, Indian diaspora and expatriate audience. The publication is known for its annual award ceremony for the "India Abroad P ...
''. Patel did not offer a public comment on the matter.
''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".
After Democrats took control of the House of Representatives in January 2019, Patel worked for about a month as a senior counsel at the
House Reform and Oversight Committee.
Executive branch
Positions
Patel was hired in February as a staffer for President Trump's National Security Council (NSC), working in the International Organizations and Alliances directorate,
and in July 2019 became Senior Director of the Counterterrorism Directorate, a new position created for him.
According to ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', Patel led a secret mission to
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
in early 2020 to negotiate the release of
Majd Kamalmaz
Majd Kamalmaz is an American psychotherapist from Arlington, Virginia, who has been detained in Syria since February 2017.
His children appealed to Donald Trump for help. Kamalmaz is reported to be a diabetic.
Kamalmaz's family is a part of the ...
and journalist
Austin Tice
Austin Bennett Tice (born August 11, 1981) is an American freelance journalist and a veteran U.S. Marine Corps officer who was kidnapped while reporting in Syria on August 14, 2012.
Early life and education
Tice is from Houston, Texas, the el ...
, both of whom were being held by the Syrian government.
In February 2020, Patel moved to the
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a senior, cabinet-level United States government official, required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as executive head of the United States Intelligence Comm ...
(ODNI), becoming a Principal Deputy
to Acting Director
Richard Grenell
Richard Allen Grenell (born September 18, 1966) is an American political operative, diplomat, TV personality, and public relations consultant who served as Acting Director of National Intelligence in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet in 2020. ...
. 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.
Patel has widely been described as a "Trump loyalist".
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.
Red flags were raised when President 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 Giuliani's irregular, informal channel. Impeachment inquiry witnesses have been asked what they know about Patel. Fiona Hill told investigators that it seems "Patel was improperly becoming involved in Ukraine policy and was sending information to Mr. Trump."
Sondland and Kent testified they did not come across Patel in the course of their work.
On December 3, 2019, the House Intelligence Committee's report included phone records, acquired via subpoenas to AT&T and/or Verizon Wireless, including a 25-minute phone call between Patel and Giuliani on May 10, 2019.
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.
Five minutes after the 25-minute call between Giuliani and Patel, an unidentified "-1" phone number called Giuliani for over 17 minutes, after which Giuliani called his associate
Lev Parnas
Lev Parnas (born February 6, 1972) is a Ukrainian-born American businessman and associate of Rudy Giuliani. Parnas, Giuliani, Igor Fruman, John Solomon (political commentator), John Solomon, Yuriy Lutsenko, Dmytro Firtash and his allies, Victor ...
for approximately 12 minutes.
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", and that his call with Giuliani was "personal".
In an October 2019 story, ''
Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'', citing an anonymous source it reported had formerly worked at the White House, wrote that Patel had "unique access" to
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
, and had provided "out of scope" advice to him on the United States' Ukraine policy.
Patel denied the claims and, the following month, sued ''Politico'' for defamation, seeking $25 million in damages.
Reported move to lead CIA
In January 2021, ''
Axios Axios commonly refers to:
* Axios (river), a river that runs through Greece and North Macedonia
* ''Axios'' (website), an American news and information website
Axios may also refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Axios, a brand of suspension produ ...
'' reported that Trump had considered Patel for appointment as
Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency to replace
Gina Haspel
Gina Cheri Walker Haspel (born October 1, 1956) formerly an American intelligence officer, was director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2018 to 2021. The first woman to hold the post on a permanent basis, she had previously worked a ...
.
According to ''Axios'', Patel was to be appointed
Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
The Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (DD/CIA) is a statutory office () and the second-highest official of the Central Intelligence Agency. The DD/CIA assists the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) and is author ...
immediately before a planned dismissal of Haspel, allowing him to head the agency in an acting capacity.
In an interview with ''Vanity Fair'',
Ezra Cohen-Watnick confirmed parts of the ''Axios'' report. Patel declined to comment.
U.S. Department of Defense
![Kash Patel and Chris Miller 210114-D-BN624-0319 (50836026918)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Kash_Patel_and_Chris_Miller_210114-D-BN624-0319_%2850836026918%29.jpg)
In November 2020, Patel was made chief of staff to Acting
Secretary of Defense Christopher C. Miller
Christopher Charles Miller (born October 15, 1965) is an American retired United States Army Special Forces colonel who served as acting United States secretary of defense from November 9, 2020, to January 20, 2021. He previously served as Direc ...
, a move that followed Trump's firing of Secretary of Defense
Mark Esper
Mark Thomas Esper (born April 26, 1964) is an American politician and manufacturing executive who served as the 27th United States secretary of defense from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, he had previously served as the 23rd ...
. Patel reportedly argued that Esper was disloyal to Trump by refusing to
deploy military troops to Washington to quell the
George Floyd protests
The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...
.
AEI policy director
Kori Schake
Kori N. Schake ( ; born 1962) is the Director of Foreign and Defense Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. She has held several high positions in the U.S. Defense and State Departments and on the National Security Council. She was a foreign ...
argued that although neither Patel nor others were "confirmable", the shakeup was primarily a matter of "spite" toward the Pentagon establishment.
''Foreign Policy'' magazine connected the move to Trump's "refusal to accept the election results". 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. 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.
[ Another source told the magazine that Patel was the most influential person in the U.S. government on matters of national security.]
After the contentious November 2020 election, Patel reportedly blocked some Department of Defense officials from helping the Biden administration transition, according to NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
. As chief of staff, Patel was designated to lead the Department of Defense's coordination with the presidential transition of Joe Biden
The presidential transition of Joe Biden began on November 7, 2020 and ended on January 20, 2021. Unlike previous presidential transitions, which normally take place during the roughly 10-week period between the election in the first week o ...
, and also supported a departmental initiative to separate the National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
from the U.S. Cyber Command
United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). It unifies the direction of cyberspace operations, strengthens DoD cyberspace capabilities, and integra ...
.
Involvement in Trump documents investigation
The National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...
(NARA) found in 2021 that Trump had taken some 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. The Justice Department sought but failed to persuade a federal judge to compel Patel's testimony, whereupon he was granted immunity to testify, which he did on November 4, 2022.
Post-government career
In April 2022, Patel became a member of the board of directors for the Trump Media & Technology Group
Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), also known as T Media Tech LLC, is an American media and technology company founded in 2021 by former U.S. president Donald Trump. In October 2021, the company announced a merger agreement with Digital Wor ...
, owner of the Truth Social
Truth Social (stylized as TRUTH Social) is a social media platform created by Trump Media & Technology Group, an American media and technology company founded in October 2021 by former U.S. president Donald Trump. It has been called a competitor ...
media platform.
Patel is the author of a children's picture book
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...
, titled ''The Plot Against the King,'' which articulates the fact that the Steele dossier
The Steele dossier, also known as the Trump–Russia dossier, is a controversial political opposition research report written from June to December 2016, containing allegations of misconduct, conspiracy, and cooperation between Donald Trum ...
was used as evidence to initiate investigations in Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
The Russian government interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election with the goals of harming the campaign of Hillary Clinton, boosting the candidacy of Donald Trump, and increasing political and social discord in the United States. Acc ...
. Illustrated by Laura Vincent, the book was published in May 2022 by Brave Books''.'' It is a fanciful retelling with characters that are caricatures
A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...
of real people, written for early grade school-age children.
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".
Personal life
Patel resides in the District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
. He plays ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
. In 2014, he agreed to participate in a bachelor auction of what Above the Law described as "very handsome lawyers" to benefit Switchboard of Miami
Switchboard of Miami, Inc., commonly referred to as Switchboard, was a private, nonprofit and registered 501(c)(3) organization located in Miami, Florida, United States that provided Miami-Dade County with comprehensive telephone counseling and re ...
, but he withdrew from the auction after a blogger noted his Florida law license was out of date.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Kash
American people of Indian descent
Living people
Pace University School of Law alumni
People from Garden City, New York
Public defenders
Trump administration personnel
United States Department of Defense officials
United States National Security Council staffers
University of Richmond alumni
Washington, D.C., Republicans
1980 births
American people of Gujarati descent
American politicians of Indian descent
Garden City High School (New York) alumni
Asian conservatism in the United States