Kash Patel, other Trump officials, linked to antisemitic extremists: Report
A new investigation links high-ranking Trump administration officials –– including FBI Director Kash Patel –– to Holocaust deniers and other antisemitic extremists. The report by NPR comes as the administration cuts grants to Harvard and other elite universities for allegedly failing to protect Jewish students from antisemitic threats and violence.
The White House declined to comment. Some of the officials cited by NPR denied knowingly being involved with antisemitic extremists.
Focus on antisemitism questioned
Since President Donald Trump took office in January, he has repeatedly attacked top universities for not tamping down antisemitism on their campuses. Trump’s claims primarily relate to last year’s protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.
The administration has tried to deport protest leaders who had valid student visas or were otherwise legally residing in the United States. Officials have also targeted billions of dollars in research grants and other funding earmarked for universities. Besides Harvard, those schools include Brown, Columbia, Cornell and Northwestern. Harvard has sued over the cuts.
In an executive order signed in January, Trump said that failures by top schools to protect Jewish students “is unacceptable and ends today.”
But critics say the administration’s efforts have less to do with fighting antisemitism than with stifling dissent.
“If the administration were serious about countering antisemitism, first and foremost, they wouldn’t be appointing people with antisemitic and other extremist ties to senior roles within the administration,” Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, told NPR.
She added, “The ways in which the administration is exploiting the Jewish community’s legitimate fears and concerns about antisemitism is ultimately undermining Jewish safety.”
FBI director’s ties to Holocaust denier
NPR based its reporting on social media posts, interviews and public appearances by administration officials.
Patel, a longtime FBI critic who once published a list of Trump critics he deemed deserving of retribution, was questioned during his Senate confirmation hearing about his ties to Stew Peters, a podcaster and conspiracy theorist. Patel appeared eight times on Peters’ podcast, lawmakers said.
Peters has used the podcast and other forums to promote Holocaust denial, according to NPR. On social media last September, Peters posted a photo in which he held Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.” He captioned the photo, “Visionary leadership.”
Under questioning by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patel said he wasn’t familiar with Peters.
But on his podcast, Peters disputed Patel’s testimony.
“Kash Patel is lying,” Peters said. “He absolutely does know who I am,” adding that at one time, he and Patel texted “via personal cell phones constantly.”
Official associated with three extremists
NPR reported that another administration official –– Paul Ingrassia, the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security –– had associated with at least three extremists.
One is Andrew Tate, an influencer in the so-called “manosphere” who was accused of human trafficking in Romania and faces a similar investigation in Florida. The Anti-Defamation League says Tate has perpetuated revisionist history about the Holocaust, performed Nazi salutes in public and spread conspiracy theories about Israel.
On Instagram, Ingrassia posted a photo of himself with Tate, writing that Tate and his brother, Tristan, “provide an opportunity for a better future – one that inspires, rather than degrades men.”
NPR also said Ingrassia attended a rally last year in Detroit headlined by Nick Fuentes, a prominent Holocaust denier and white nationalist, and has publicly supported Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who was among those charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. According to NPR, Hale-Cusanelli was described by federal prosecutors as a “Nazi sympathizer” who once posted a video in which he called Orthodox Jews a “plague of locusts.”
Trump pardoned Hale-Cusanelli in January.
Ingrassia told NPR, “This narrative you’re trying to attach to me that I’m some sort of extremist is lacking in all credibility.”
Other officials’ connections cited
Another White House official –– Rachel Cauley, communications director for the Office of Management and Budget –– served on the board of an organization founded to support Hale-Cusanelli’s defense against the Jan. 6 charges.
Cauley did not comment, NPR said.
Ed Martin, a Department of Justice official whom Trump named interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, praised Hale-Cusanelli last year as an “extraordinary man” and an “extraordinary leader.” During a ceremony at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, Martin presented Hale-Cusanelli with an award for promoting “God, family and country,” NPR reported.
The Senate Judiciary Committee sought information about Martin’s ties to Hale-Cusanelli before the White House pulled his nomination to be the permanent U.S. attorney in Washington. He was then assigned a role as pardon attorney with the Department of Justice.
In a written response to the Judiciary Committee, Martin wrote: “I am not close with him. The statements that individual made are abhorrent, deplorable and unacceptable in any context.”
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
