{"id":2399364,"date":"2025-02-05T15:56:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T20:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawyer-behind-trump-lawfare-runs-a-new-op-against-kash-patel\/"},"modified":"2025-02-05T15:56:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T20:56:59","slug":"lawyer-behind-trump-lawfare-runs-a-new-op-against-kash-patel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawyer-behind-trump-lawfare-runs-a-new-op-against-kash-patel\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawyer Behind Trump Lawfare Runs A New Op Against Kash Patel"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flawyer-behind-trump-lawfare-runs-a-new-op-against-kash-patel%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2399364&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Norm Eisen, a prominent \u2063figure in various anti-Trump \u2062initiatives, \u200bis\u2063 now targeting \u200bKash Patel, a nominee for FBI director. Eisen co-authored a letter to \u2062Senate Judiciary Committee\u2062 leaders \u200durging them to question Patel about \u2064<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/amy-coney-barrett-says-formal-supreme-court-ethics-code-a-good-idea\/\" title=\"Barrett supports formal ethics code for Supreme Court.\">alleged ethical issues<\/a>, including stock \u2064compensation from Trump Media and potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) due to work with Qatar. Though,Patel has denied\u200c accepting any stock \u200cand asserts that his work \u2064does not require \u2064FARA registration.<\/p>\n<p>Eisen&#8217;s history includes efforts to impeach Trump and attempts to remove \u2062him from ballots across states. His \u200borganizations, such as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), have participated in multiple \u200clegal\u2063 actions against Trump, including \u200blawsuits to\u200c challenge his candidacy and requests for\u2063 courts to intervene\u200d in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heritage-foundation-sues-dhs-over-university-program-that-directly-tied-group-to-neo-nazis\/\" title=\"Heritage Foundation sues DHS over university program linked to Neo-Nazis.\">criminal matters involving<\/a> the former president. Despite these efforts, the \u2064courts, including\u2062 the U.S.\u2062 Supreme Court, have often dismissed claims against Trump.<\/p>\n<p>As Eisen and\u2064 his affiliates continue\u200c their push \u2064against Trump and his\u2062 associates, some Democrats are supporting the call\u2064 for additional\u200c hearings regarding Patel&#8217;s\u200b nomination, which has been characterized \u200cby opponents as a strategy to stall the \u200cconfirmation process. In response, committee leaders have dismissed these efforts, labeling them as &#8220;baseless.&#8221;  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Norm Eisen, the founder of multiple anti-Trump groups that participated in at least four lawfare attempts to throw Trump off the ballot or in jail during his 2024 presidential candidacy, is now running an op against Trump&rsquo;s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel.<\/p>\n<p>Eisen co-authored a <a href=\"https:\/\/statedemocracydefenders.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/patel-qatar-sjc-letter-020325.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter<\/a> to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Dick Durbin on Monday, demanding the committee grill Patel on two issues Eisen portrayed as &ldquo;ethics&rdquo; concerns. Eisen claimed Patel &ldquo;was issued 25,946 shares&rdquo; of stock in Trump Media, where he serves on the board of directors in a role he had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/2025-01-30_-_qfr_responses_-_patel.pdf\">pledged<\/a> to resign if confirmed as FBI director, and alleged Patel had potentially run afoul of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by doing work for Qatar without registering as a foreign agent. But Patel pledged in written testimony to Congress that he had not and would not accept such shares, and a source close to the confirmation process says his work for Qatar did not rise to the definition of a foreign agent.<\/p>\n<h2>Eisen&rsquo;s History of Anti-Trump Lawfare<\/h2>\n<p>Eisen, who was counsel for Democrats&rsquo; first attempt to impeach Trump, is the co-founder of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the group behind the effort to throw then-candidate Trump off the Colorado ballot in 2024. CREW &ldquo;helped find the plaintiffs who brought the case in Colorado and funded the lawsuit,&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/07\/us\/politics\/crew-trump-colorado-watchdog.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a> to The New York Times. This effort to deny Coloradans the right to vote for their preferred candidate was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/23pdf\/23-719_19m2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">repudiated<\/a> 9-0 by the U.S. Supreme Court. <\/p>\n<p>Another group <a href=\"https:\/\/statedemocracydefenders.org\/board\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">co-founded<\/a> by Eisen, State Democracy Defenders Action, filed multiple amicus briefs in various lawfare cases against Trump, including one just last month <a href=\"https:\/\/statedemocracydefenders.org\/2025\/01\/bipartisan-group-of-legal-experts-file-amicus-arguing-against-presidential-immunity-in-trump-election-interference-case\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">arguing<\/a> that New York Judge Juan Merchan should proceed with sentencing Trump in a sham trial despite Trump&rsquo;s election to presidential office. In the Biden Justice Department&rsquo;s prosecution of Trump for retaining documents from his presidency, both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensforethics.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/25-1-2024-09-03-Attachment-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CREW<\/a> and State Democracy Defenders Action <a href=\"https:\/\/statedemocracydefenders.org\/2024\/09\/legal-constitutional-law-experts-file-amicus-in-mar-a-lago-case\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed<\/a> amicus briefs asking the 11th Circuit to overturn Judge Aileen Cannon&rsquo;s ruling that the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith to prosecute Trump was unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<p>States United Democracy Center, another Eisen-founded group, <a href=\"https:\/\/statesunited.org\/resources\/georgia-amicus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed<\/a> an amicus brief in Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis&rsquo; &ldquo;get-Trump&rdquo; case opposing Trump&rsquo;s motion to dismiss the charges, which were invented based on a bizarre application of gangbusting laws. And in 2023, States United created a 47-page &ldquo;road map&rdquo; for prosecuting Trump associates and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/2024\/11\/21\/arizona-indictments-trump-supporters-mirror-nonprofits-suggestions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">furnished<\/a> it to the Democrat attorney general of Arizona, who subsequently charged 18 Trump allies related to their roles in providing an alternate slate of electors in the 2020 election. In the memo, Eisen&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">group specifically recommended &#038;ldquo<\/a>;further investigation&rdquo; into Trump&rsquo;s &ldquo;actions, intent, and knowledge.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>After his groups&rsquo; various attempts to thwart the election of Donald Trump failed, Eisen launched a new project with Jennifer Rubin: a publication called &ldquo;The Contrarian&rdquo; which, like every other Democrat media outlet, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/01\/13\/media\/jennifer-rubin-norm-eisen-contrarian-washington-post\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">views<\/a> its mission as fighting the &ldquo;authoritarian threat&rdquo; posed by the elected president.<\/p>\n<h2>Patel: &lsquo;I Did Not and Will Not Accept that Compensation&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>In his Monday letter, Eisen urged the committee to hold another hearing to grill Patel on the concerns Eisen raised, including his allegations that Patel received shares from Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of Truth Social. But senators had already asked Patel about the receipt of any such shares, and Patel provided an explanation.<\/p>\n<p>A common part of the confirmation process is for senators to send written &ldquo;questions for the record&rdquo; to nominees after their confirmation hearings. After Patel&rsquo;s hearing on Thursday, Jan. 30, senators on the Judiciary Committee sent Patel a list of questions, which he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/2025-01-30_-_qfr_responses_-_patel.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">answered<\/a> in a 147-page document that&rsquo;s available publicly on the committee&rsquo;s website.<\/p>\n<p>In that exchange, Democrat Sen. Adam Schiff asked Patel if he had &ldquo;ever received shares or other financial gifts or compensation&rdquo; from Trump Media, to which Patel responded that he had &ldquo;never received compensation for serving as a board member for Trump Media and Technology Group.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Further, Patel explained: &ldquo;On January 28, 2025, the TMTG board convened without my presence or participation and awarded all board members&mdash;including myself&mdash;compensation for past services provided, including a monetary award and shares. Even though this represented compensation for past services I had provided, out of an abundance of caution and to avoid any appearance of any conflict, I did not and will not accept that compensation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Since Patel has pledged to the Judiciary Committee he &ldquo;will not accept&rdquo; any shares the board may have awarded him, Eisen&rsquo;s concern that Patel &ldquo;has not committed to divest those holdings&rdquo; appears moot.<\/p>\n<h2>FARA Allegations<\/h2>\n<p>Eisen also tried to gin up alarm about Patel not being registered as a foreign agent. The Foreign Agents Registration Act requires anyone who qualifies as an &ldquo;agent of a foreign principal&rdquo; to register as such with the U.S. Department of Justice. The first prong of FARA&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/nsd-fara\/fara-index-and-act#611c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">definition<\/a> of an &ldquo;agent of a foreign principal&rdquo; requires such a person to be an &ldquo;agent,&nbsp;representative,&nbsp;employee, or&nbsp;servant&rdquo; or anyone who otherwise serves at the request or direction of a foreign principal or whose &ldquo;activities&rdquo; are controlled or funded by a foreign principal. The second prong further requires that, to qualify as a foreign agent, such a person:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>(i)&nbsp;engages&nbsp;within the United States in&nbsp;political activities&nbsp;for&nbsp;or in the interests of such&nbsp;foreign principal;<\/p>\n<p>(ii)&nbsp;acts&nbsp;within the United States as a&nbsp;public relations counsel, publicity agent, information-service employee or political consultant for or in the interests of such foreign principal;<\/p>\n<p>(iii) within the United States&nbsp;solicits,&nbsp;collects,&nbsp;disburses, or&nbsp;dispenses&nbsp;contributions, loans, money, or other&nbsp;things of value&nbsp;for&nbsp;or in the interest of such&nbsp;foreign principal; or<\/p>\n<p>(iv) within the United States&nbsp;represents&nbsp;the interests of such&nbsp;foreign principal&nbsp;before any&nbsp;agency&nbsp;or&nbsp;official&nbsp;of the Government of the United States&hellip;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>A source close to Patel&rsquo;s confirmation told The Federalist his work for Qatar was limited to securing the 2022 FIFA World Cup and other security measures, not the kind of representation that would require FARA registration. As a counterterrorism prosecutor in Barack Obama&rsquo;s DOJ, Patel had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/press\/rep\/releases\/grassley-opening-statement-on-kash-patels-nomination-to-be-fbi-director\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">investigated<\/a> the 2010 bombings at the World Cup held in Uganda. Furthermore, FARA includes specific exemptions for those engaged merely &ldquo;in private and nonpolitical activities in furtherance of the bona fide trade or commerce of such foreign principal.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The day after Eisen&rsquo;s letter, Democrats on the Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Grassley demanding another hearing that would likely delay Patel&rsquo;s confirmation vote. On Tuesday, Grassley <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/dems-delay-tactic-malign-patel-stall-fbi-confirmation-dismissed-baseless-top-senate-leader\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">slammed<\/a> their &ldquo;baseless efforts to mischaracterize and malign&rdquo; Patel and deemed a further hearing &ldquo;unnecessary.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Elle Purnell is the elections editor at The Federalist. Her work has been featured by Fox Business, RealClearPolitics, the Tampa Bay Times, and the Independent Women&#8217;s Forum. She received her B.A. in government from Patrick Henry College with a minor in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @_ellepurnell.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Norm Eisen, founder of anti-Trump groups, targets Kash Patel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1353,"featured_media":2399365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Screenshot-2025-02-05-at-1.43.28%E2%80%AFPM.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[16727,4742,3634],"class_list":["post-2399364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-lawfare","tag-lawyer","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Screenshot-2025-02-05-at-1.43.28%E2%80%AFPM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2399364"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2399368,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399364\/revisions\/2399368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2399365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2399364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2399364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2399364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}