Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s candidate for the director of the FBI, was examined against his business links, in particular by holding actions in a group owner of Shein, the Chinese fast fashion retailer accused of using forced work .
Patel declared in a financial disclosure form that he held $ 1 million dollars of $ 5 million in shares in Elite Depot, a group of Cayman islands which, according to the British sales archives, has Shein. Participation was the greatest asset of the patel disclosure.
Human rights groups and American legislators, including Republican Marco Rubio, former Florida senator who is now Trump’s secretary of state, have accused Shein of using forced work in its operations in China. Shein previously told Financial Times that he had a “zero tolerance policy” concerning forced work.
ClutchWho was briefly assistant to the acting director of national intelligence in the first Trump administration, no longer works for Elite Depot. But in his form of disclosure, he said that he would keep his small stock. A first phase of shares was unveiled on February 1, two days after its Senate confirmation hearing.
“The director of the FBI incoming worked for 8 months as a fashion consultant to a dark Cayman portfolio company connected to a work manufacturer for Chinese communist slaves and he obtains up to $ 5 million in costs. . . WTF »Chris Murphy, a Democratic Senator of Connecticut, wrote on Friday on the social media platform X.
Patel is one of the most controversial candidates in the Trump administration. Considered a loyalist of Trump, he defended the theories of the conspiracy of the far -right Qanon and threatened any reprisals against the opponents of the Maga movement of the President of the Government and the Media.
He promised to close the FBI headquarters in Washington “the first day and reopen it the next day as a museum of” the deep state “, which he undertook to shirk American organizations of the law.
Patel is also a member of the board of directors of Trump Media & Technology Group, which manages the president’s social platform of the president.
While working for Elite Depot, Patel criticized Temu, a rival in Shein, in elements of opinion published in the American media. In a Washington Times article, Patel said that TEMU was a “much greater threat” for the United States than Tiktok, the popular abstractive video application belonging to Chinese company Bytedance.
Rush Doshi, a former Chinese official of the National National Security Council of Biden, wrote on X that the patel links with Shein were “really shocking”, in particular in the midst of information that the FBI would reduce its emphasis on the Chinese government’s influence operations in the United States.
Asked about Doshi’s criticisms, the spokesperson for the Patel underlined a comment in the candidate’s confirmation hearing in which he declared that the priorities of national security “would include the spying of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) which embarrassment these five years across our country ”.
The spokesperson also rejected criticism from the Biden administration, saying that she had “let a CCP ball fly across America”. “This allowed the CCP to buy American agricultural land. This allowed the CCP Fentanyl to kill young Americans. Give me a break, “added the spokesperson.
The Senate’s judicial committee postponed a vote on the opportunity to send the nomination of the complete Senate for confirmation on Thursday for the objections of the Democrats.
A spokesperson said that he had “exceeded things beyond”, including “countless meetings with the senators, disclosing and signaling all sources of income” and testifying for six hours before the judicial committee .
“The Senate evaluated all potential conflicts and concerns,” said the spokesperson, adding that Patel was waiting impatiently a vote of the committee on Thursday and to be quickly confirmed by the Senate.
If he is confirmed, Patel will succeed Christopher Wray, who was a Beijing vocal criticismthat he accused of conducting generalized spy operations. China has repeatedly denied spying on the United States.
Wray, which was appointed by Trump in 2017 and was to serve for a decade, resigned Before the president’s inauguration last month.
Shein has plowed funds in a lobbying campaign in Western capitals, notably Washington and London because he sought to fight against a Political and regulatory reaction During its environmental recording and supply chain practices.
The fashion group is Seeking to register in London In the coming weeks after being postponed by American regulators. Rubio last year urged the United Kingdom to investigate if Shein had used forced work, noting its inability to meet the American registration requirements “due to concerns about its business practices contrary to ethics and irresponsible”.
Trump Friday amended a decree To reintegrate an exemption from prices and large customs checks for shipments of less than $ 800 during entry to the United States. The stay will help Shein.
Shein was challenged by TEMU, a copying platform that sends low-cost goods from China directly to American consumers. The groups were locked in a bitter struggle for suppliers in China as well as legal battles in the United States.
In his financial disclosure, Patel also said that he had received revenues from Epoch Times, an anti-CCP publication affiliated with Falun Gong, a dissident group.
Additional Ryan McMoror report in Beijing
