Kash Patel's India connection: Meet Donald Trump's controversial new FBI pick
Kash Patel was raised as a Hindu by parents of Gujarati descent from East Africa. His father emigrated from Uganda in the 1970s amid Idi Amin's repressive rule.
US President-elect Donald Trump recently announced his pick for the new Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director. He nominated the Indian-American Kashyap "Kash" Patel for the role.
The 44-year-old served in Trump's first term in intelligence and defence roles, and has never shied away from expressing his views, no matter how controversial.
The former public defender has called for a "a comprehensive housecleaning" of the Justice department. He has also expressed his views against the "deep state" in his book Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy. The term, widely used in some political circles, includes elected leaders, journalists, Big Tech tycoons and “members of the unelected bureaucracy,” according to Patel.
He has also been quite critical of the FBI, calling it to be dismantled and turned into a “museum of the deep state.”
In a 2023 interview with Steve Bannon, Patel also criticised the media. “Yes, we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections — we’re going to come after you,” he said.
Born in New York in 1980, Patel was raised as a Hindu by parents of Gujarati descent from East Africa. His father emigrated from Uganda in the 1970s amid Idi Amin's repressive rule.
He studied at the University of Richmond and graduated from Pace University School of Law in 2005. He worked for nine years as a public defender in Florida.
He also founded Kash Foundation to provide financial assistance to active duty service members and veterans, legal defence funds, and education programmes.
Patel also sits on the board of directors for Trump Media Technology Group, the parent company of Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social.