Donald Trump’s FBI director nominee Kash Patel has reviewed his business relationships, including in the group of Chinese fast fashion retailer Shein, which has forced labor Hold stocks.
Patel said in his financial disclosure statement that he holds $1 million-$5 million in shares in Cayman Islands group Elite Depot (Elite Depot), which owns Shein, according to UK business records. The shares are Patel’s largest asset disclosed.
Human rights groups and U.S. lawmakers, including former Florida Senator Marco Rubio, now Trump’s Secretary of State, have accused Ming of using forced labor in his actions in China. Shein had previously told the Financial Times that it had a “zero tolerance policy” about forced labor.
Patel briefly served as acting deputy director of national intelligence in the first Trump administration, and he no longer worked for Elite Depot. But he said he said he would retain its restricted stock. Two days after the Senate confirmation hearing, on February 1, the first batch of stocks belonged to February 1.
“The upcoming FBI director worked for eight months as a fashion consultant at a shady Cayman holding company that has ties to Chinese Communist slave labor manufacturers, and he can cost up to $5 million. Connecticut Democracy Party Senator Chris Murphy wrote on social media platform X on Friday.
Patel is one of the most controversial nominees for the Trump administration. He is seen as a Trump loyalist, defending the far-right Qanon conspiracy theory and threatening retribution to opponents of the presidential magazine movement in the administration and media.
He vowed to close the FBI’s Washington headquarters on the first day and reopen as a “Deep State” museum the next day, which he has promised to stand out from the U.S. law enforcement agencies.
Patel is also a board member of Trump Media Technology Group, which is responsible for the president’s truth-editing social platform.
While working for Elite Depot, Patel criticized Shein’s rival Temu’s opinion in the US media. In a Washington Times article, Patel claims that Temu is “much more threatening” to the United States compared to Tiktok, a popular short-term video app owned by U.S. bytedance.
Rush Doshi, a former Chinese official at Biden’s National Security Council, wrote on X that Patel’s connection to Shein was “really shocking”, especially when there were reports It said the FBI will reduce reports on the Chinese government’s influence in the United States.
Asked about Dosh’s criticism, Patel’s spokesman highlighted comments at the nominee confirmation hearing, saying that national security focus will “including CCP (Communist Party of China) espionage, which is in our country Through these five years, more and more have been going on.”
The spokesman also dismissed the Biden administration’s criticism, saying it “let the CCP balloon fly in the United States.” “This has allowed CCP to buy American farmland. It has allowed CCP fentanyl to kill young people in the United States. Give me a break,” the spokesperson added.
The Senate Judiciary Committee confirmed Thursday whether to send Patel’s nomination to the entire Senate after Democrats’ objection.
A Patel spokesman said he “gone beyond the reach”, including “numerous meetings with the senators, disclosure and reporting of all sources of income” and testified six hours before the judicial panel.
“The Senate assessed all potential conflicts and concerns,” the spokesman said, adding that Patel looked forward to a committee vote on Thursday and was promptly confirmed by the Senate.
If confirmed, Patel will replace Beijing’s critic Christopher Wray, who accused him of helping with widespread espionage. China has repeatedly denied espionage against the United States.
Wray was appointed by Trump in 2017 and will resign before the presidential inauguration last month.
Shein has invested money in lobbying in the western capital, including Washington and London, as it tries to resist political and regulatory opposition to its environmental records and supply chain practices.
Fashion groups sought to list in London within weeks after U.S. regulators refused. Rubio urged the UK to investigate whether Shein used forced labor last year, noting that it failed to meet our listing requirements “due to concerns over its unethical and irresponsible business practices”.
On Friday, Trump revised an executive order to restore exemptions from tariffs and goods worth less than $800 when entering the United States. Probation will help Shein.
Shein is challenged by imitating platform Temu, which ships low-cost goods directly from China to U.S. consumers. These groups have been trapped in a fierce battle against Chinese suppliers and the U.S. law.
Patel also said in his financial disclosure that he had earned income from the Epoch Times, an anti-CCP publication related to dissident organization Falun Gong Things.
Other reports by Ryan McMorrow in Beijing
