With Indian-origin lawyer Kash Patel set to take over as the FBI chief following a Senate vote, the staunch President Trump supporter and loyalist earns himself a crucial role in the US administration.
By Nichola Marie
Community leaders in Gujarat rejoiced when Kashyap Pramod Vinod Patel — better known as Kash Patel — was announced as the Chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during Donald Trump’s second term as US President. Announcing Patel’s nomination to lead the FBI, President Trump posted on Truth Social, “I am proud to announce that Kashyap ‘Kash’ Patel will serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People.”
Trump’s revelation sent frissons of excitement in faraway Vadodara, where Patel has roots; his rise representing a twice-migrated success story for Gujaratis. While his parents were Indianorigin residents of East Africa, with his father from Uganda and his mother from Tanzania, the family fled anti-Indian persecution in the 1970s, moving first to Canada and later settling in the US. Patel was born on February 25, 1980, in Garden City, New York and grew up in Queens.
The family maintained a low profile despite New York’s vibrant Gujarati diaspora, with his father venturing into the motel business before entering the private sector. His parents, now retired, are said to divide their time between the US and Gujarat.
Community members are now hopeful that with Patel’s appointment, the image of the enterprising Gujarati community will be further enhanced, boosting the foray of the next generation into public life.
Electrifying Address
A former public defender, Patel has seen a meteoric rise in the power structure of Washington DC in recent times, rising up to be the Chief of Staff at the Department of Defence and Deputy Director of National Intelligence in President Trump’s first term, topped by his recent nomination by Trump to head the FBI.
He alluded to the ‘American Dream’, emphasising that it was “alive and well,” during his high-voltage speech shortly after President Trump’s swearing-in at the Capitol Rotunda. Addressing a sporting arena full of supporters of the President, Patel declared, “We have been given a gift by God today to usher in a new dynasty, because we just inaugurated Donald J Trump as our 47th President, and we just inaugurated JD Vance as our Vice President of the United States. And we did that because the American Dream is alive and well because you chose that our dream can be the dream for our children and the dream for our world.”
Relating his life story for the audience as a manifestation of this American Dream, he shared, “My parents were born and raised in East Africa. My father, in the 1970s, fled a genocidal dictatorship in Uganda, where he saw 300,000 of his countrymen murdered, where he saw what lawlessness would do if it was allowed to break through the system of constitutional justice, he fled, like so many others. He married my mother. They moved here. They waited in line. They stood in line because the American Dream was worth standing in line for.”
He added, “I am standing here because of the American Dream. I am not standing here because of the colour of my skin. I’m standing here because I earned my right on this stage, and you earned your right to be here with me.”
Advocating Change
Patel has consistently expressed his disapproval of the political influence over the FBI’s leadership and had even suggested that the agency’s headquarters should be moved out of the capital Washington DC. He had called for the agency’s headquarters to be dismantled and turned into a “museum of the deep state.” Criticising the intelligence agency’s intelligence-gathering operation, he has emphasised, “We’ve got to put in all-American patriots top to bottom.” Patel has vowed to take on the ‘deep state’. As CNN reports, “In his 2023 book, ‘Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy’, Patel lays out his case against what he refers to as “the deep state” — an amorphous term he says includes elected leaders, journalists, Big Tech tycoons and “members of the unelected bureaucracy”— calling for “a comprehensive housecleaning” of the Justice Department, which he claims has protected high-ranking members of the Democratic Party while unjustly targeting Republicans and their allies.”
Rising High
Dubbing himself a native New Yorker, Patel was raised Hindu by his immigrant parents. In his book, he reveals that he grew up apolitical but became more right-wing during his time in college at the University of Richmond. After graduating from Pace University School of Law in 2005, his career as a lawyer began as a public defender when he handled multiple cases ranging from murder, and narco-trafficking, to complex financial crimes in jury trials in state and federal courts. He worked for around nine years as a public defender in Florida, and also spent stints in the public defender’s office in Miami-Dade County and the Southern District of Florida. He then went on to snag what he calls a “dream job” for any young lawyer – working as a federal prosecutor in the National Security Division of the DOJ. In this position, he oversaw the prosecution of criminals aligned with Al-Qaeda, ISIS and other terror groups. He also served as the DOJ liaison officer to the Joint Special Operations Command during operations against “high-value terrorism targets.”
According to Patel, he was the “lead prosecutor” in the DOJ’s case against those who carried out the 2012 attack on a US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans. He went on to serve as an aide to Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee in 2018.
Joining Team Trump
Patel went to work for Trump on the National Security Council in 2019, serving as National Security Advisor and Senior Counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). He had led the probe into the Russian active measures campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election. He then became the chief of staff to acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller at the end of Trump’s first term. Patel was also put in charge of the Pentagon transition effort for Trump’s first term. He oversaw coordination with the incoming Biden-Harris administration.
In 2022, he became one of Trump’s designees to interact with the National Archives and the Justice Department.
With his growing prominence in American politics, Patel has become increasingly known for his legal expertise, media presence, and dedication to supporting military and law enforcement communities.
The Write Way
Since the first Trump administration, Patel has written a children’s book trilogy titled ‘The Plot Against the King’. The first book in the series tells the story of “Hillary Queenton and her shifty knight” who “spread lies that King Donald had cheated to become King.” The second story revolves around the “search for the truth” and the uncovering of evidence “of a terrible scheme to elect Sleepy Joe instead of King Donald on Choosing Day.” Patel’s latest book tells the story of the “MAGA King” on a journey to “take down Comma-la-la-la and reclaim his throne.”
Patel is also the founder of Fight With Kash — renamed the Kash Foundation — which is purportedly “dedicated to providing financial assistance to active duty service members and veterans, legal defense funds, and education programs.”
A Lifelong Hockey Player
Since his nomination, interest in Patel has surged. He has been a regular guest on several podcasts including those hosted by Tim Pool and Benny Johnson.
Patel, who resides in Washington DC, plays ice hockey and is a fan of the sport. Posting on Facebook, Senator Kevin Cramer wrote in December 2024, “Kash Patel, a lifelong hockey player, brings the grit and sharp elbows you’d expect on the ice — perfect for restoring accountability and getting the FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation – back to the law enforcement agency it is meant to be!”
