Indian American lawyer Kashyap "Kash" Patel is the author of the controversial Republican memo critical of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and some Justice Department officials that is roiling the American political landscape.
Patel drafted the document pointing out improprieties in the FBI probe into alleged connections between President Donald Trump's campaign and the Russian government, on behalf of the Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee. It was made public on Friday after Trump cleared its release despite opposition from the FBI and the Democrats.
Patel is on the staff of Representative Devin Nunes, the Republican who is chairman of the committee. He formerly worked for the National Security Division as a counter-terrorism prosecuter and joined the committee last April.
The Republcian memo alleges that the FBI relied on investigations of Trump that was paid for by the Democratic National Committee and lawyers linked to Hillary Clinton's campaign when applying to a court for permission to wiretap a Trump adviser, Carter Page, and that the FBI did not disclose this fact to the judge.
The anti-Trump dossier was prepared by Christopher Steele, who is described as former British intelligence employee. It was initially commissioned by a right-wing website that was against Trump, but dropped it later and the Democrats then commissioned it.
The memo also alleged that Steele as well as some FBI staffers were anti-Trump and that the wife of Bruce Ohr, a former associate deputy attorney general, worked for FusionGPS, the company through which Steele worked.
The Democrats, who have prepared a counter memo, have said the Republican document is an attempt to wreck the image of the FBI and derail the Russia investigation.
They maintain that the FBI and the courts did not rely on the controversial dossier to get the wiretap approved and that the FBI and Justice Department officials were being smeared.
Patel had made news in 2016 while working for the Justice Department by not wearing a tie while appearing in a federal court. During a terrorism trial, Patel appeared informally dressed as he had just landed there from Central Asia, and was admonished by the judge for the way he was dressed and demanded to see his passport. He also wrote indictment of Clinton at DOJ.
(IANS)
