Kash Patel had a roster of foreign clients. Their interests could clash with FBI he hopes to lead

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, 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. And he advised a roster of 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. But the years since have been unquestionably lucrative as Patel 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 all helped swell his net worth to as much as $15 million, according to an Associated Press analysis of his government financial disclosure forms.

As Patel awaits Senate confirmation to become the next FBI director, his private-sector work is drawing renewed 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 soon lead. The scope of Patel's business dealings with foreign entities is hard to fully discern because he in some instances disclosed only minimal information about the nature of his work. But they're coming into focus at a time the Trump administration's Justice Department intends to scale back enforcement of laws governing foreign lobbying. And they're all the more notable because at least one client, the clothing company Shein, was established in China, a country U.S. authorities have described as a national security threat.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for Patel, Erica Knight, offered no additional details about the specifics of the work he did. But she 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, a lobbyist for the Washington-based government watchdog Public Citizen, said Patel’s business dealings presented problems that need to be explored before he becomes FBI director. “The conflicts of interest seem very obvious to me,” Holman said.

From obscurity to prominence. Patel, 44, was not in Trump’s orbit when the Repubican was first elected to the White House. He had toiled as a public defender and Justice Department counterterrorism prosecutor before catching on with the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee during the FBI’s investigation into potential ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign. Deeply skeptical of the origins of that investigation, Patel helped author a document that identified problems with the investigation and faulted the FBI over its surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser. The memo caught Trump’s attention, paving the way for Patel’s promotion to a series of increasingly high-profile roles in the administration.

After Trump’s defeat in 2020, Patel leveraged his connections to the former president to attain considerable wealth. He wrote a book and became a ubiquitous presence in conservative media as one of Trump’s most outspoken loyalists, railing against so-called “government gangsters” while voicing an eagerness to go after Trump’s political enemies in a future administration. He also launched a nonprofit, the Kash Foundation, that aimed to foster “a healthier relationship between the US federal government and American citizens.” The organization raised nearly $1.3 million in 2023 but spent only $212,821 providing “financial and legal assistance for whistle-blowers, needy families and education” that forms the core of its stated mission, according to its most recent tax returns. The group also sold “Fight With Kash” merchandise that included beanies, scarves, hoodies and playing cards.

The group held nearly $850,000 in reserve in 2023 while spending $332,000 on “advertising and promotion,” including $275,475 paid to One and Oh LLC, a company that was founded by the Kash Foundation’s vice president and that Patel also consulted for. Patel's roster of clients. Meanwhile, as Patel became an increasingly influential adviser to Trump, earning $544,000 from the presidential candidate's political operation, he was building a roster of foreign and domestic consulting clients, none of which was revealed until his most recent government financial disclosure was made public last week.

The document shows Patel drew income from an unusual range of sources — the Embassy of Qatar, Shein and a California company that rents out metal storage tanks. Some of that work came at particularly sensitive times for clients. Patel’s consulting for The Czechoslovak Group, a foreign arms conglomerate also known as CSG, coincided with the firm's push to purchase Vista Outdoor, the maker of such famous American ammo brands as Federal and Remington. Senate Republicans, including future Vice President JD Vance, blasted the purchase last year as a threat to national security and urged the Biden administration to review the pending sale.