Kash Patel, who served briefly as chief of workers to the Secretary of Protection on the finish Donald Trump‘s first presidential time period and is now Trump’s decide to steer the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has made no secret of his unwavering assist for the MAGA motion. As chief of the highly effective legislation enforcement company, the die-hard loyalist can be poised to make good on his repeated threats to go after Trump’s enemies within the media and the so-called “deep state,” whereas some elected Republicans hope he’ll dismantle the FBI as we all know it.
However Patel doesn’t simply share Trump’s ideological bent and urge for food for authoritarian energy. He’s additionally, just like the as soon as and future president, an inveterate salesman, all the time hawking merchandise meant to line his pockets whereas advancing his political agenda.
Over the previous two years, for instance, Patel has revealed a trilogy of kids’s books below the title The Plot In opposition to the King. The primary installment is a fairytale rendition of Patel’s conspiracist claims that Hillary Clinton (right here depicted as “Hillary Queenton”) and her minions orchestrated the FBI investigation into Russian interference within the 2016 election to undermine the legitimacy of Trump’s victory in that race. Patel casts himself as “Kash, the Distinguished Discoverer,” a wizard-like character who sniffs out the scheme. The second ebook makes reference to 2,000 Mules, a discredited documentary by MAGA filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza which made false claims in regards to the 2020 election being stolen. (D’Souza was compelled to confess on Sunday that the movie was primarily based on “inaccurate” info.) The ultimate chapter is about “King Donald” defeating figures meant to characterize President Biden and Vice President Harris. These are along with his 2023 ebook for right-wing adults, Authorities Gangsters: The Deep State, the Fact, and the Battle for Our Democracy.
Different merch Kash has peddled since Trump left workplace in 2021 runs the gamut out of your primary attire (“Combat With Okay$H” shirts, hoodies and socks) to flags, thermoses, and $250 metal wall artwork of an orange Punisher cranium with Trump-style hair. Patel wore one merchandise from his retailer, the Combat With Kash Punisher Intarsia Reversible Scarf, when talking on the 2024 Conservative Political Motion Convention. In response to his web site, “web income” from the web store go towards the Kash Basis, which purports to help whistleblowers with authorized protection funds and defend First Modification rights. The group, which grew to become a tax-exempt nonprofit in 2022 and reported income of $1.29 million for 2023, made funds to FBI whistleblowers who testified earlier than a Home Judiciary committee final 12 months as a part of Rep. Jim Jordan‘s failed bid to uncover a “deep state” conspiracy in opposition to Trump throughout the federal paperwork.
Opposite to the suggestion of an edited picture that made the rounds on Fact Social in 2022, Patel has by no means partnered with the footwear firm Lucchese to promote boots with the tagline “Shoving boots up the Deep States’ [sic] ass since 1883.” Patel’s face was apparently superimposed onto that of a mannequin carrying leather-based boots. But Patel did lend his title to a winemaker that sells by the small batch alcohol distributor Nice American Craft Spirits: A six-pack of the Okay$H Cabernet Sauvignon prices $243.99, with some portion of that value allegedly going towards an unnamed charity.
Patel has additionally partnered with and endorsed different financial system companies serving a “patriot” buyer base, together with the monetary providers firm Revere Funds, Coign (billed as “a bank card for conservatives”), and the mobile phone provider Patriot Cell. His promotional efforts have even prolonged to music; he was among the many producers of “Justice for All,” a single that featured Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance with a choir of unidentified Jan. 6 defendants singing the nationwide anthem in jail. Trump performed the monitor at his first 2024 presidential rally. A video for the one has since vanished from YouTube, although it’s unclear if it was the platform or the consumer who eliminated the music.
Most alarmingly, Patel has used his Fact Social account to tout the efficacy of “vaccine reversal” remedies offered by an organization whose co-founders beforehand ran a multi-level advertising enterprise, Xcellent Alternative, which was flagged by the watchdog Fact in Promoting. Warrior Necessities, the corporate behind the trademarked vaccine “detox” tablets, claims that one in all its merchandise eliminates the spike protein from a Covid-19 vaccine, in addition to “zombie cells” and “misfolded DNA.” The precise components — which embody zinc, vitamin D, and pineapple and soy extracts — are widespread to many dietary supplements and haven’t been proven to have the results marketed by Warrior Necessities.
All through his relentless profiteering off Trump, Patel has tended to valorize himself because the incoming president and lots of of his extraordinarily on-line allies do: with low-quality memes. Patel himself shared the altered picture through which he was supposedly modeling Lucchese boots, and as soon as, in one other Fact Social publish, shared a poorly cropped picture of himself as Star-Lord from Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, however with the title “Meme-Lord.” The caption on the image, which options the seal of the U.S. House Power, reads: “Lets goooooo #TruthSocial – #FWK making some noise – wizards n warlocks model.”
Whether or not this extended interval of hucksterism, stymied makes an attempt to uproot a deep state conspiracy, and militant bluster has ready Kash to serve successfully as an FBI director is, in fact, an open query. To that finish, his affirmation by a possible skeptical Senate will not be assured. However it’s clear, anyway, what makes him certified for the job in Trump’s eyes: He backs the president-elect each step of the way in which, and, identical to Trump, sees nothing improper with utilizing political affect to make a straightforward buck.
