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Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s candidate for the FBI director, has examined his business relationships, including holding stocks in a group that has Shein, the Chinese fast-fashion dealer who is accused of using forced labor.
In a financial disclosure form, Patel said that he has shares worth 1 million USD to Elite Depot, a Cayman Islands group that Shein. The proportion was the greatest capital in the disclosure of patel.
Human rights groups and US legislators, including the Republican Marco Rubio, the former Senator of Florida, who is now Trump’s State Secretary accused Shein to use forced labor In his operations in China. Shein previously announced the Financial Times that it had a “zero tolerance policy” in relation to forced labor.
PatelThe briefly served as the representative of the reigning director of National Intelligence in the first Trump government no longer works for Elite Depot. But in his disclosure he would say that he would keep his limited stock. A first tranche of shares on February 1, two days after his hearing to confirm the Senate.
“The incoming FBI director worked as a fashion consultant on a shadowy Cayman holding company for 8 months, which is connected to a slave work manufacturer of the Chinese Communist Party, and he receives up to $ 5 million in fees. . . WTF ”Chris Murphy, a Democratic Senator from Connecticut, wrote on Friday on the Social Media platform X.
Patel is one of the most controversial candidates in the Trump government. As a trump loyalist, he defended the right-wing extremist qanon conspiracy theories and threatened retribution against opponents of the Maga movement of the president in the government and the media.
He swore to reopen the Washington headquarters of the FBI “on the first day” and the next day as a museum of the “deep state”, which he committed to eradicate from US criminal trial authorities.
Patel is also a board member of the Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates the president’s social platform.
While he worked for Elite Depot, Patel Temu, a Rival of Shein, criticized in opinion pieces that were published in US media. In an article in the Washington Times, Patel claimed that Temu was a “much bigger threat” for the USA as a Tikok, the popular short-form video app, which belonged to the Chinese company bytedance.
The Senate Justice Committee postponed a vote on Thursday whether the nomination of Patel should be sent to confirmation according to the objections of the Democrats.
A Patel spokesman said that he “went far beyond”, including “countless meetings with senators, the disclosure and reporting of all sources of income” and statements for six hours before the judiciary.
“The Senate has evaluated all potential conflicts and concerns,” said the spokesman and added that Patel was looking forward to a committee vote on Thursday and was quickly confirmed by the Senate.
If this is confirmed, Patel will succeed Christopher Wray who was a Peking’s vocal criticwhat he accused of having carried out widespread espionage operations. China repeatedly contested the espionage against the United States.
Wray, which was appointed by Trump in 2017 and was supposed to serve for a decade, stepped down Before the president’s inauguration last month.
Shein plowed money in a lobby campaign in West Capitals such as Washington and London because she tried to defend herself against one Political and regulatory counter -reaction About its environmental rages and supply chain practices.
The fashion group is I try to listen to London In the coming weeks after rejection of US supervisory authorities. Last year, Rubio asked Britain to investigate whether Shein had applied forced workers, and found that the requirements for the US list was not met, “due to concerns about the unethical and irresponsible business practices”.
Trump on Friday Changed an executive regulation To restore a liberation of tariffs and extensive customs tests for shipments below 800 US dollars when entering the USA. The deletion will help Shein.
Shein was challenged by Temu, a imitator platform that shipped inexpensive goods from China directly to US consumers. The groups were locked up in a bitter struggle for suppliers in China and in legal battles in the USA.
In his financial disclosure, Patel also said that he received income from the Epoch Times, an anti-CCP publication associated with Falun Gong, a dissident group.
Additional reporting from Ryan McMorrow in Beijing
