Trump's Trials - How Kash Patel has used children's books & podcasts to promote conspiracy theories

Episode Date: December 10, 2024

Kash Patel, Trump's pick to head the FBI, has parlayed his time serving in various national security roles in the first Trump administration to building a brand promoting pro-Trump conspiracy theories and selling merchandise. NPR's Lisa Hagen reports.Support NPR and hear every episode sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

I'm Scott Detro and you're listening to Trump's Terms from NPR. We will have really great strong people. Donald Trump is unstoppable. Make America healthy again. The future is gonna be amazing. Each episode we bring you NPR's latest coverage of the incoming Trump administration and the people who will run it. Cabinet secretaries, political advisors, military leaders, NPR is following their agenda

and their path to power to bring you stories like the one you're about to hear right after this. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. Send, spend, or receive money internationally and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Download the WISE app today or visit wise.com, tease and seize apply. What are the best albums of 2024? Find out on the latest episode of NPR's All Songs Considered.

There's a lot of people who could sing that exact line and I would be like, you're under arrest. But she pulls it off. Download new episodes of All Songs Considered every Tuesday, wherever you get podcasts. I'm Juana Sommers. President-elect Trump's pick to lead the FBI, Cash Patel, held several national security positions in the first Trump administration. He's also built a brand promoting pro Trump conspiracy theories, bringing him money and

influence. Those narratives have inspired his public threats to go after Trump's perceived enemies, as NPR's Lisa Hagan reports. What you're hearing is a promotional music video for a children's book written by Cash Patel. It's about deep state plots against a noble hero called King Donald. The plot against the king, the plot against the king. The plot against the king children's books are a trilogy in which a wizard named Cash helps King Donald defeat characters like Hillary Quinton and Kamala La La. Patel started his career as a public defender and later became a federal Donald defeat characters like Hillary Quinton and Kama La La La.

Patel started his career as a public defender and later became a federal prosecutor. During Trump's first term, Patel's work as a congressional aide defending the president got him noticed. He went on to hold several national security positions. The Trump transition team says that's why Patel is quote, beyond qualified to be FBI director. Patel did not respond beyond qualified to be FBI director. Patel did not respond to interview requests from NPR. He wrote another book, this one for adults.

It's called Government Gangsters, a phrase he explains in a trailer for a documentary adaptation of the book. Government Gangsters are the group of individuals, career bureaucrats who have been installed by what we call the deep state into every agency and department in the United States government. The Deep State is one of Patel's main talking points, according to Russell Muirhead. He teaches political science at Dartmouth College and studies the impact of conspiracy theories on democracy.

The Deep State conspiracy refers to the idea that a huge raft of governmental officials are actually hostile to the president and want to obstruct him and want to disempower his constituents and his movement. Mirrorhead says, whether someone believes in it or not, the deep state idea functions to legitimize a project of disabling or disrupting parts of government that don't bend to Trump's will. The Deep State is also a key feature of modern pro-Trump conspiracy theories, including QAnon. It claims that the Deep State works with a cabal of pedophile elites to secretly traffic children and consume their blood.

Many QAnon believers also look forward to quote, the storm, which they anticipate would include mass arrests or punishment of the cabal and members of the deep state. Here's Patel in 2022 talking to pro-Trump influencer, Mary Grace. You know, the Q thing is a movement. A lot of people attach themselves to it. I disagree with a lot of what that movement says, but I agree with what a lot of that movement says. Asked to clarify, a Trump transition team spokesperson said, quote, this is a pathetic

attempt at guilt by association. Patel has tended not to focus on the pedophile part of the Q belief system, but he has been a guest on at least a dozen podcasts that have spread QAnon content or related conspiracy theories. Here's Mirhead again. It does seem that he's happy to embrace the whole train of conspiratorial assertions associated with, or even that define, Donald Trump. He's happy to embrace QAnon. It delivers him to an audience of sympathetic listeners and watchers. Patel has used his exposure to sell merchandise, with at least some of the proceeds benefiting charity. Things like cash-branded wine—he spells the S

with a dollar sign—and supplements that he claims detoxify the supposed negative effects of COVID vaccines. Patel has also promoted false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. And last year, he promised payback. We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government, but in the media. Yes, we're gonna come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We're gonna come after you. That's from an appearance on former Trump advisor Steve Bannon's talk show. Patel has sued journalists for defamation and recently threatened to sue a former Trump official after she argued he's unfit to lead the FBI.

Charles Kupperman is a former deputy national security adviser to Trump, who said he didn't vote for either candidate in the last election. Kupperman told NPR he didn't trust Patel when they overlapped at the National Security Council. The FBI has traditionally operated independently from the president, but Kupperman now worries. Cash will be a propagandist for Donald Trump. He will carry out any orders that the White House president gives him, and he will have an opportunity, if he is confirmed at the FBI, to invoke retribution against individuals. And it will not be a pretty picture. A Trump spokesperson told NPR that as FBI Director, Cash Patel will end the weaponization

of the agency. Lisa Hagan, NPR News. And before we wrap up, a thank you to our NPR Plus supporters who hear each show without sponsored messages, and of course who help protect independent journalism. If you are not a supporter yet, you can visit plus.npr.org to find out how you can get a ton of podcast perks across dozens of NPR shows, like bonus episodes, exclusive merchandise, and more. Again, that's plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detro. Thanks for listening to Trump's Terms from NPR.