The Grift Files · Who got what · Updated Nov. 8, 2026
FBI Director
The card
Kept $1 million to $5 million in stock of Shein's parent company, paid for consulting, while running the FBI
Patel's disclosure listed the Elite Depot stock, received as consulting compensation, and said he would keep it. The AP reported that his filing described the chance of a conflict as 'remote'.
Response: Patel and his spokeswoman did not respond to the AP's requests for comment.
Source: Fortune (AP)
Holding office, or a family name, is not a crime. This page says only what the sources say, and carries the response where one was given. Every story we have filed that names Kash Patel: Kash Patel in the news.
In the timeline
3 dated entries from the Grift Files timeline, oldest first, each with its source.
Kash Patel's financial disclosure showed he had consulted since April 2024 for Elite Depot Ltd., the Cayman Islands parent of the Chinese-founded fast-fashion retailer Shein, and was paid in $1 million to $5 million of unvested stock that would mature over the following year. Unlike his other holdings, he said he would not sell it because the chance his FBI job would involve the company was "remote." His other clients had included the Embassy of Qatar and a unit of the Czechoslovak Group; he also earned $544,000 from Trump's campaign operation, per the AP.
The response: Patel's disclosure called the chance of a conflict "remote"; he and his spokeswoman did not respond to the AP's requests for comment.
Source: Fortune (AP)
The FBI's Washington Field Office disbanded its public corruption squad, known as CR15, which investigated fraud and corruption by members of Congress and other federal officials and had worked on the precursor to Jack Smith's election-interference case against Trump. Agents were reassigned as the bureau under Director Kash Patel shifted resources toward immigration enforcement. The Justice Department had already cut its Public Integrity Section and dropped the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
The response: An FBI official said the change was part of a broader reorganization and that public corruption cases would still be pursued.
Source: NBC News
NOTUS reported that the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, which prosecutes corrupt officials, had 36 attorneys working corruption cases full time when Trump took office and was down to two, the smallest since its creation in 1976; all but one of its paralegals were gone, and in June DOJ dropped the requirement to consult the section on campaign-finance and election cases. The day after her confirmation, Bondi had also disbanded the task force that pursued unregistered foreign agents. In August 2025, Sen. Warren, Rep. Nadler and more than 60 other Democrats wrote that Bondi and Patel had given "a green light to would-be lawbreakers."
The response: DOJ said it "takes public corruption seriously and continues to prosecute these cases"; White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the administration is restoring integrity and trust in institutions. DOJ and FBI declined to comment on the Democrats' letter.
Source: NOTUS (via The Washington Sun), NBC News
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