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Donald Trump’s FBI nominee Kash Patel under fire over Shein stake

Published

1 year ago

February 9, 2025

Donald Trump’s FBI nominee Kash Patel under fire over Shein stake

Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director, has come under scrutiny over his business ties, including holding stock in a group that owns Shein, the Chinese fast-fashion retailer accused of using forced labour.

Patel stated in a financial disclosure form that he held $1mn-$5mn worth of shares in Elite Depot, a Cayman Islands group that, according to UK business records, owns Shein. The stake was the largest asset in Patel’s disclosure.

Human rights groups and US lawmakers, including Republican Marco Rubio, the former Florida senator who is now Trump’s secretary of state, have accused Shein of using forced labour in its operations in China. Shein has previously told the Financial Times it has a “zero-tolerance policy” regarding forced labour.

Patel, who briefly served as deputy to the acting director of national intelligence in the first Trump administration, no longer works for Elite Depot. But in his disclosure form, he said he would retain his restricted stock. A first tranche of stock vested on February 1, two days after his Senate confirmation hearing.

“The incoming FBI Director worked for 8 months as a fashion consultant to a shadowy Cayman holding company connected to a Chinese Communist party slave labour manufacturer and he gets up to $5mn in fees . . . WTF” Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator from Connecticut, wrote on social media platform X on Friday.

Patel is one of the Trump administration’s most controversial nominees. Seen as a Trump loyalist, he has defended far-right QAnon conspiracy theories and threatened retribution against opponents of the president’s Maga movement in government and the media.

He has vowed to shut down the FBI’s Washington headquarters “on day one and reopen it the next day as a museum of the ‘deep state’,” which he has pledged to root out from US law enforcement agencies.

Patel is also a board member of Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs the president’s Truth Social platform.

While working for Elite Depot, Patel criticised Temu, a rival to Shein, in opinion pieces published in US media. In one article in the Washington Times, Patel claimed that Temu was a “much greater threat” to the US than TikTok, the popular short-form video app owned by Chinese company ByteDance.

Rush Doshi, a former China official on Biden’s National Security Council, wrote on X that Patel’s ties with Shein were “truly shocking”, particularly amid reports that the FBI would reduce its focus on the Chinese government’s influence operations in the US.

Asked about Doshi’s criticism, Patel’s spokesperson highlighted a comment in the nominee’s confirmation hearing in which he said national security priorities would “include CCP (Chinese Communist party) espionage which is running rampant these five years through our country”.

The spokesperson also dismissed criticism coming from the Biden administration, saying it had “let a CCP balloon fly across America”. “That let the CCP buy up American farmland. That let CCP fentanyl kill America’s young people. Give me a break,” the spokesperson added.

The Senate judiciary committee on Thursday postponed a vote on whether to send Patel’s nomination to the full Senate for confirmation, following objections from Democrats.

A spokesperson for Patel said he had “gone above and beyond”, including “countless meetings with senators, disclosing and reporting all sources of income” and testifying for six hours before the judiciary panel.

“The Senate has evaluated all potential conflicts and concerns,” the spokesperson said, adding that Patel looked forward to a committee vote on Thursday and to being quickly confirmed by the Senate.

If confirmed, Patel will succeed Christopher Wray, who was a vocal critic of Beijing, which he accused of conducing widespread espionage operations. China has repeatedly denied engaging in espionage against the US.

Wray, who was appointed by Trump in 2017 and was set to serve for a decade, stepped down ahead of the president’s inauguration last month.

Shein has ploughed funds into a lobbying campaign in western capitals including Washington and London, as it has sought to fight back against a political and regulatory backlash over its environmental record and supply chain practices.

The fashion group is seeking to list in London in the coming weeks after it was rebuffed by US regulators. Rubio last year urged the UK to investigate whether Shein had used forced labour, noting its failure to meet US listing requirements “due to concerns about its unethical and irresponsible business practices”.

On Friday, Trump amended an executive order to reinstate an exemption from tariffs and expansive customs checks for shipments under $800 in value when entering the US. The reprieve will help Shein.

Shein has been challenged by Temu, a copycat platform that ships low-cost goods from China directly to US consumers. The groups have been locked in a bitter fight over suppliers in China as well as legal battles in the US.

In his financial disclosure, Patel also said that he had received income from the Epoch Times, an anti-CCP publication affiliated with Falun Gong, a dissident group.

Additional reporting by Ryan McMorrow in Beijing

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Explosion at Lumber Mill in Searsmont, Maine, Draws Large Emergency Response

Published

4 hours ago

May 15, 2026

Press Room

Explosion at Lumber Mill in Searsmont, Maine, Draws Large Emergency Response

An explosion and fire drew a large emergency response on Friday to a lumber mill in the Midcoast region of Maine, officials said.

The State Police and fire marshal’s investigators responded to Robbins Lumber in Searsmont, about 72 miles northeast of Portland, said Shannon Moss, a spokeswoman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Mike Larrivee, the director of the Waldo County Regional Communications Center, said the number of victims was unknown, cautioning that “the information we’re getting from the scene is very vague.”

“We’ve sent every resource in the county to that area, plus surrounding counties,” he said.

Footage from the scene shared by WABI-TV showed flames burning through the roof of a large structure as heavy, dark smoke billowed skyward.

The Associated Press reported that at least five people were injured, and that county officials were considering the incident a “mass casualty event.”

Catherine Robbins-Halsted, an owner and vice president at Robbins Lumber, told reporters at the scene that all of the company’s employees had been accounted for.

Gov. Janet T. Mills of Maine said on social media that she had been briefed on the situation and urged people to avoid the area.

“I ask Maine people to join me in keeping all those affected in their thoughts,” she said.

Representative Jared Golden, Democrat of Maine, said on social media that he was aware of the fire and explosion.

“As my team and I seek out more information, I am praying for the safety and well-being of first responders and everyone else on-site,” he said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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Woman killed in Atlanta Beltline stabbing identified

Published

7 hours ago

May 15, 2026

Press Room

Woman killed in Atlanta Beltline stabbing identified

article

Crime scene tape surrounds a bicycle in front of St. Lukes Episcopal Church in Atlanta on May 14, 2026. (SKYFOX 5)

ATLANTA – The woman stabbed to death on the Beltline has been identified as 23-year-old Alyssa Paige, according to the Fulton County Medical Examiner.

The backstory:

Paige was killed by a 21-year-old man Thursday afternoon while she was on the Beltline. Officials confirmed to FOX 5 that the stabbing happened near the 1700 block of Flagler Avenue NE.

Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said the department was alerted around 12:10 p.m. that a woman had been stabbed just north of the Montgomery Ferry Drive overpass. She was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital where she later died. Another person was also stabbed during the incident, but their condition remains unknown.

According to officers, the man responsible attacked a U.S. Postal worker prior to the stabbing before getting away on a bike. He then used that bike to flee the scene of the stabbing as well.

The suspect was arrested near St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on Peachtree Street in Midtown around 5:25 p.m.

What we don’t know:

While officials haven’t released an official motive, they noted the man may have been suffering a mental health crisis.

The Source: Information in this article came from the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office and previous FOX 5 reporting.

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Man Charged With Posting Bomb Instructions Used in New Orleans Attack

Published

16 hours ago

May 15, 2026

Press Room

Man Charged With Posting Bomb Instructions Used in New Orleans Attack

Federal prosecutors have filed charges against a former Army serviceman they accused of distributing instructions on how to build explosives that were used by a man who conducted a deadly attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day last year.

The former serviceman, Jordan A. Derrick, a 40-year-old from Missouri, was charged with one count of engaging in the business of manufacturing explosive materials without a license; one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device; and one count of distributing information relating to manufacturing explosives, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday. The three charges together carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.

Starting in September 2023, the authorities said, Mr. Derrick was using various social media sites to share videos of himself making explosive materials, including detonators. His videos provided step-by-step instructions, and he often engaged with viewers in comments, sometimes answering their questions about the chemistry behind the explosives.

The authorities said that Mr. Derrick’s videos were downloaded by Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, who was accused of ramming a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2025, in a terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens. Mr. Jabbar was killed in a shootout with the police. Before the attack, Mr. Jabbar had placed two explosives on Bourbon Street, the authorities said, but they did not detonate.

The authorities later recovered two laptops and a USB drive in a house that Mr. Jabbar had rented. The USB drive contained several videos created by Mr. Derrick that provided instructions on making explosives. The authorities said the explosives they recovered were consistent with the ones Mr. Derrick had posted about.

Mr. Derrick’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Derrick was a combat engineer in the Army, where he provided personnel and vehicle support, the authorities said. He also helped supervise safety personnel during demolitions and various operations. He was honorably discharged in February 2013.

The authorities did not say whether Mr. Derrick had any communication with Mr. Jabbar, or whether the men had known each other. In some of Mr. Derrick’s videos and comments, he indicated that he was aware that his videos could be misused.

“There are a plethora of uh, moral, you know, entanglements with topics, any topic of teaching explosives, right?” he asked in one video, according to the affidavit. “Of course, the wrong people could get it.”

The authorities also said that an explosion occurred at a private residence in Odessa, Mo., on May 4, and the occupant of the residence told investigators that he had manufactured explosives after watching online tutorials from Mr. Derrick.

Mr. Derrick’s YouTube account had more than 15,000 subscribers and 20 published videos, the affidavit said. He had also posted content on other platforms, including Odysee and Patreon. Some videos were accessible to the public for free, while others required a paid subscription to view.

“My responsibility to my countrymen is to make sure that I serve the function of the Second Amendment to strengthen it,” Mr. Derrick said in one of his videos, according to the affidavit. “This is how I serve my country for real.”

Outside of the income he received through content creation, Mr. Derrick did not have any known employment. He did receive a monthly disability check from Veterans Affairs, the affidavit stated.