Select Documents from Multiple Agencies Containing Communications Sent to and Received by Kash Patel During First Trump Administration

Select records from the Justice Department, the Department of Defense, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, received in response to multiple records requests made by American Oversight. These records include calendar logs and communications sent to and received by Kash Patel from 2018 to 2021. Some of the topics referenced in these documents include the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Biden administration transition team, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) report on former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

Key calendar logs and communications are listed below:

2018

Jan. 19, 2018: Email sent by Kash Patel, who was then a senior committee aide to Rep. Devin Nunes, to David Lasseter (senior executive at the Department of Justice), Damon Nelson (staff director for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence), Scott Glabe (deputy staff director for Nunes), and Stephen Boyd (assistant attorney general). The correspondence was about the HPSCI report on former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Patel replied: “Thanks for the note, the Chairman and the DAG have spoken over the phone.”

2020 

May 15, 2020: Heavily redacted email from acting General Counsel Brad Brooker to acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell and Patel with the subject line “An issue Nunes may flag for you this weekend.” 

May 18, 2020: Attorney General William Barr’s visitor logs showing meetings with Patel, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Zach Terwilliger.

May 19–20, 2020: Heavily redacted email thread between Patel and Gen. Paul Nakasone, with Grenell copied, with the subject line “Indent Query Unmasking Requests.” A document titled “K Flynn Calls.docx” was sent to Grenell on May 20 after he requested a transcript mentioned in the thread. Grenell removed Booker from the thread and wrote to Patel, “These transcripts don’t seem that bad to me, thoughts?”

May 20, 2020: A letter from Sen. Mark Warner to Grenell about the declassification of the list of officials who requested that names in intelligence reports be “unmasked.” Grenell emailed Patel about the letter and wrote, “I want to respond to this – we must hit back on ridiculous letters to show we won’t be manipulated by Congress.”

Nov. 12, 2020: Trump administration official John Zadrozny emailed Kash Patel and Defense Undersecretary Anthony Tata asking for the Defense Department’s help on a consular issue. 

Nov. 16, 2020: Email thread including Patel and White House liaison Joshua Whitehouse about the Department of Defense transition with the subject line: “Unpaid consultancy – Esper.”

Dec. 4, 2020: In an email sent to several DOD staffers, Patel accused the Agency Review Team lead Kath Hicks of pushing a false narrative with regard to a Washington Post article about the Pentagon blocking the Biden transition team from visiting military intelligence agencies. Patel wrote in his email that if Hicks “or her team continues these total fake narratives, I will shut it all down.” The email was sent to Thomas Muir (acting director of Washington Headquarters Service), Jonathan Hoffman (principal adviser to the secretary and deputy secretary of defense), and Carmen Covelli-Ingwell (principal deputy assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs). 

Dec. 5, 2020: Patel responded to an email concerning the same Washington Post article mentioned above and wrote: “Thanks, what did the assclowns from cnn and nbc have to say?”

Dec. 8, 2020: Julia Blanks, then executive director at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, emailed Patel and Whitehouse and provided them with “the schedule F package going to DSD for signature.” Patel responded to move on it “asap.”

Dec. 14, 2020: Marc Short, from Vice President Mike Pence’s office, emailed Patel and Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller  regarding Col. Dan Greenwood’s promotion to brigadier general. Short wrote, “Dan has served our country honorably and helped to advance the goals of the MAGA agenda.” Patel replied that they would take a look.

2021

Jan. 1, 2021: Email from Patel about scheduling a phone call with Maj. Gen. William Walker, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy for the following day.

Jan. 1–2, 2021: An email thread containing a redacted request for D.C. National Guard support from Walker to McCarthy.

Jan. 2, 2021: Invitation to a phone call including Patel, Christopher Miller, Ryan McCarthy, and Mark Milley, as well as the head of the National Guard Bureau and the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global security.

Jan. 3, 2021: Email thread regarding the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP), recirculated and shared with Patel on Jan. 7, as confirmation that USCP had declined Defense Department support on Jan. 3. In the thread is an email from Kevin Volpe, a navy officer, to a staff member in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense Homeland Defense and Global Security asking to confirm that “US Capitol Police got back to you and said ‘no requests for DoD support?’” The staff member responded, “[redacted] yes I do have confirmation from USCP, [redacted] who works for [redacted]”. 

Jan. 7, 2021: National Guard Bureau update provided by Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the National Guard Bureau chief, to Patel and Army personnel.

Jan. 19, 2021: Patel replied to a staff member of Rep. Steve Womack’s office regarding a follow-up to Womack’s request for documents about Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure. Patel wrote that “the incoming administration can continue to facilitate this request.”