FBI Director Kash Patel caught sleeping on required disclosure of six-figure MSTR investment: Report

FBI Director Kash Patel caught sleeping on required disclosure of six-figure MSTR investment: Report

Patel loaded up on BTC-holder MSTR shares but failed to file a timely disclosure, according to a report by nonpartisan news outlet NOTUS.

• FBI Director Kash Patel failed to disclose for more than six months a purchase of between $100,001 and $250,000 in shares of BTC-holder Strategy (MSTR).
• Patel attributed the late filing to an unspecified “miscommunication,” but government watchdogs say the delay violates the STOCK Act and have renewed calls to bar federal officials from trading individual stocks.

FBI Director Kash Patel failed to timely disclose a six-figure purchase of stock in Strategy (MSTR), the world's largest publicly-listed bitcoin holder, according to a report by nonpartisan news outlet NOTUS. Patel supposedly purchased between $100,001 and $250,000 worth of MSTR on Nov. 21, but did not report the trade to regulators until May 26.

The reason for the delay? Miscommunication. Patel informed the Office of Government Ethics that he “inadvertently omitted” the transaction due to an unspecified “miscommunication.”

According to the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, high-ranking executive branch officials need to publicly disclose individual stock trades over $1,000 within 45 days from the transaction.

Scrutiny over Strategy’s BTC business

The trade has drawn intense scrutiny from government watchdogs due to Strategy's BTC accumulation business and its previous business with federal agencies. The company, which according to NOTUS has done millions of dollars in business over the years with the Justice Department, calls itself a “Bitcoin Treasury Company,” and aggressively accumulates BTC as its primary reserve asset. Since 2020, the company has built a coin stash of 847,363 BTC, worth over $50 billion as of this writing.

The FBI actively probes cryptocurrency scams, especially fraudulent investment schemes, and Director Patel has previously commended his agency’s strong track record in the crypto space.

Watchdogs call violation

In a May 28 letter, Deputy Assistant Attorney General William Taylor stated that the purchase did not represent a conflict of interest. Government watchdogs strongly disagree.

Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette of the Project on Government Oversight told NOTUS that Patel's delayed filing was "violating the law - no other way to put it," renewing calls to ban federal officials from trading stocks.

While first-time STOCK Act violations face a $200 fine, an FBI official noted that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has not penalized Patel, and his disclosure has since been amended and approved.

Strategy's stock has lost roughly half its value since Patel’s purchase, though the company remains a cornerstone of institutional crypto investment.