Letter to FARA Unit Regarding Patel
Investigate Whether Kash Patel Should Have Registered Under FARA
By Craig Holman, Ph.D.
Evan Turgeon, Chief
Department of Justice/NSD
FARA Unit
175 N Street, NE
Constitution Square, Building 3 – Room 1.204
Washington, DC 20002
Sent via email
Dear Chief Turgeon:
In the course of the nomination process of Kashyap Patel as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, it was revealed for the first time in the ethics agreement with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) that Patel and his consulting firm, Trishul LLC, were hired by the Embassy of Qatar to provide consulting services. Yet, neither Patel nor Trishul LLC registered as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
Public Citizen requests that the FARA Unit examine whether Kash Patel and Trishul LLC should have registered under FARA and, if so, pursue appropriate remedial actions. At the very least, appropriate remedial actions should then include belated registrations and disclosure of the amount paid by the embassy, the interests of the government of Qatar pursued, the activities Patel and his firm conducted to pursue these interests, and the contacts made on behalf of Qatar.
The disclosure by OGE that Patel worked on behalf of the Embassy of Qatar came as a surprise and, unfortunately, after his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, depriving even Congress to inquire about it.
There are significant conflicts of interest concerns involved. OGE’s ethics agreement with Patel reveal that the Embassy of Qatar was a client of Trishul LLC until November 2024, Patel’s consulting company, and that Patel directly provided consulting services to Qatar. This was a time period when Patel also served as a foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign and the incoming administration. Yet, neither Patel nor Trishul LLC registered and disclosed their activities on behalf of Qatar.
There are certain exemptions to registration under FARA, but when a person or entity works on behalf of a foreign government, rather than just a foreign principal, those exemptions are very limited. Furthermore, there is a history of persons involved in Trump’s 2016 campaign also evading FARA registration and disclosures specifically on behalf of the government of Qatar.
As such, Public Citizen asks the FARA Unit to look into this matter.
Respectfully submitted,
Craig Holman, Ph.D., on behalf of Public Citizen
Government affairs lobbyist
Public Citizen
215 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
(202) 454-5182