Letter to Senate Judiciary Committee: Kash Patel’s Undisclosed “Consulting Services” for Qatar Require Immediate Examination
Public Citizen Letter to Senate Judiciary Committee - 2.4.25
February 4, 2025
Chairman Chuck Grassley
Ranking Member Dick Durbin
U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Re: FBI Director-Nominee Kashyap Patel’s previously undisclosed provision of “consulting services” to the Embassy of Qatar requires immediate examination
Dear Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Durbin:
On behalf of Public Citizen, we write to urge you to recall FBI Director-Nominee Kashyap Patel to testify before the Judiciary Committee prior to any vote on his nomination so that he can explain to Senators and the public the nature and extent of his previously undisclosed provision of “consulting services” to the Embassy of Qatar. We also urge you to submit Questions for the Record to Mr. Patel requesting that he detail what services he provided to the Embassy of Qatar, when he provided them, and why he chose not to register that relationship under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) or otherwise disclose it previously.
It was revealed publicly for the first time after the Judiciary Committee’s Nomination Hearing for Mr. Patel had concluded[1] that Mr. Patel was paid an unspecified amount of money by the Embassy of Qatar to provide it with “consulting services” until November 2024.[2] Mr. Patel did not register as a foreign agent and disclose this work for the Embassy of Qatar in the FARA database[3] and did not disclose this work to Senators on his Senate Nominee Questionnaire.[4]
There are significant conflict of interest concerns involved here that demand immediate examination. For example, Mr. Patel’s Ethics Agreement[5] reveals that the Embassy of Qatar was a client of Mr. Patel’s until November 2024. This was a time frame in which Mr. Patel was simultaneously serving as a surrogate for President Trump’s re-election campaign.[6] This raises the important question of exactly what Mr. Patel did for Qatar.
Mr. Patel’s Public Financial Disclosure Report further reveals that his work for the Embassy of Qatar took place through his consulting firm “Trishul, LLC,” of which he has been a Managing Member since February 2021.[7] Mr. Patel’s report describes the work of Trishul, LLC as “National Security, Defense, and Intelligence Consulting.” This again raises the important question of exactly what Mr. Patel did for Qatar.
Neither Mr. Patel nor Trishul LLC registered or disclosed their Qatar activities under FARA. The purpose of FARA registration and disclosure is to require “certain agents of foreign principals who are engaged in political activities or other activities specified under the statute to make periodic public disclosure of their relationship with the foreign principal, as well as activities, receipts and disbursements in support of those activities. Disclosure of the required information facilitates evaluation by the government and the American people of the activities of such persons in light of their function as foreign agents.”[8] If Mr. Patel believes that the “consulting services” he provided Qatar are exempt from FARA, he should explain why.
In light of the above new information, we urge you to recall Mr. Patel to testify before the Judiciary Committee to explain his work for Qatar and address the potential conflicts of interest.
Sincerely,
/s/ Lisa Gilbert /s/ Jon Golinger
Lisa Gilbert Jon Golinger
Co-President Democracy Advocate
Public Citizen Public Citizen
Cc: All Members, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
[1] U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Nomination Hearing for Kashyap Pramod Patel, 1/30/25, 9:30 am, available at: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/01/30/2025/nominations
[2] Bryan Metzger, “Trump FBI pick Kash Patel made $2.6 million from consulting, paid speeches, and books last year,” Business Insider (published 1/30/25 at 5:41 pm EST), available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-fbi-director-kash-patel-financial-disclosure-2025-1
[3] Search of FARA database for Kashyap Patel and Qatar, 2/3/25; https://efile.fara.gov/ords/fara/f?p=1235:10
[4] U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Questionnaire for Non-Judicial Nominees, Kashyap Pramod Patel; https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/patel_sjq_to_committee.pdf
[5] Ethics Agreement of Kashyap Patel, p. 5, dated 1/28/25; available via the U.S. Office of Government Ethics website at: https://extapps2.oge.gov/201/Presiden.nsf/PAS+Index/730D7A12BBF6654785258C240032196E/$FILE/Patel%2C%20Kashyap%20%20finalEA.pdf
[6] U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Questionnaire for Non-Judicial Nominees, Kashyap Pramod Patel, p. 9 (“Between November 2022 and November 2024, I served as a surrogate for former President Donald J. Trump’s campaign for reelection.”); https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/patel_sjq_to_committee.pdf
[7] Public Financial Disclosure Report of Kashyap Patel, p. 3, p. 7, p. 9; available at: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25509708/kash-patel-financial-disclosure.pdf
[8] U.S. Department of Justice, Foreign Agents Registration Act, “About”: https://www.justice.gov/nsd-fara