Political analysts were aghast on Wednesday after a new report revealed FBI Director Kash Patel was embroiled in a new cryptocurrency scandal.
NOTUS reported that Patel waited about six months to disclose a stake he had taken in a cryptocurrency company that is doing business with the Department of Justice. One watchdog said the move violated federal law. Patel claimed the stake, which was valued between $100,000 and $250,000, was "inadvertently" left off of his previous financial disclosures, according to the report.
Patel's stake in the company was revealed at a time when the Trump administration was under increasing scrutiny for its lackadaisical approach to regulating cryptocurrencies. President Donald Trump recently disclosed that he made more than $1.4 billion from cryptocurrencies during his second term, which raised red flags for some ethics experts.
The NOTUS report sparked an outcry among political analysts online.
"The corruption is the point," Michael Breen, a historian at Reed College, posted on Bluesky.
"Incompetent, unqualified, taxpayer-abusing, corrupt, unhinged, inept #KashPatel should resign as #FBI Director for many, many reasons. This is just the latest reason," Mathew Helman, a political communications expert, posted on Bluesky.
"Any other FBI Director would have resigned before this story broke. The real news here is that Trump is willing to tolerate this," Joyce Vance, a former federal prosecutor, posted on X.
"During a normal term, he’d be impeached," Bakari Sellers, a CNN political commentator, posted on X.