TOI Correspondent from Washington: Raised with the Bhagwat Gita on a nightstand, FBI Director
Kash Patel has often mused about his Hindu upbringing that he says taught him that truth (satya) is the highest calling, pledging to bring it to the Bureau. “Arjuna’s dilemma on the battlefield is the same one every prosecutor or warrior faces—do what is right even when it’s hard,” he said in a 2024 podcast. Soon after, he presented President Trump with a small brass Ganesha idol at a Mar-a-Lago event, explaining it as the “remover of obstacles” for the coming administration.
But the only obstacles he may be removing, according to Virginia Congressman
Suhas Subramanyam – who like Patel also took oath of office on the Bhagwat Gita – is scrubbing the Epstein files of material that could implicate the President. In a formal letter last week to Patel flagging "possible tampering" in the Epstein documents, Subramanyam cited Epstein’s brother Mark Epstein among others, to allege that Republican names from the files were being redacted, and called for full transparency and access to the FBI Central Records Complex located just outside his Congressional district.
It is the latest salvo against the FBI’s first Indian-origin Director who quite overtly embraces his Hindu heritage with a thin red kalava (moli) thread on his right wrist and frequent invocation of “Jai Shree Krishna” with Indian families and friends. Just ten months into his job, Patel has been buffeted by so many controversies that it is hard to see him complete a Congressionally-mandated ten-year term given to the FBI Director (to insulate the office from political pressure).
Once hailed as a "warrior" against the "deep state," the 45-year old Trump loyalist faces lawsuits, whistleblower accusations, and even rebukes from MAGA fringes. His aggressive reforms—aimed at rooting out perceived biases from Trump-era probes—have substantiated claims of retribution and resource abuse, while his Gujarati immigrant roots have sparked xenophobic ire within the coalition that elevated him, with some MAGA activists turning against him. “My blood is Gujarati, my heart is American, and my duty is to the Constitution—deal with it,” he recently lashed back against a racist attack on his Diwali greeting earlier that day, even as progressives are on the prowl tracking any missteps.
Some of the fireworks triggered by his critics involve his girlfriend Alexis Wilkins, a country music artist, who the NYT reported over the weekend, received protection from an FBI SWAT team at a National Rifle Association (NRA) convention last spring in Atlanta where she sang The Star-Spangled Banner. Other allegations include Patel using the FBI's $60 million jet for trips to attend his girlfriend’s' concerts, among other gigs.
Patel has dismissed charges from folks he calls “internet anarchists,” while defending the deployment of SWAT teams because of the death threats faced by his girlfriend – who in turn has sued against allegations that she is a Mossad honeypit planted to entrap Patel. Some of the leaks appear to come from within an establishment, where Patel’s purge of agents and prosecutors who he believes unfairly targeted Trump when he was out of office has caused deep rifts.
But all these spats are likely to pale before the upcoming release of the complete Epstein documents by December 19, 30 days after Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law on November 19. Many US lawmakers and transparency activists see Patel as the last man standing between Trump and the truth closing in on the elites in arguably the largest predatory sex scandal in US history.
Rajghatta is author of Kamala Harris: Phenomenal Woman