Indian-American appointed to top position in President Trump’s National Security Council: News Report

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An Indian-American lawyer has been promoted to one of the top positions in the White House National Security Council which is chaired by the President and currently headed by National Security Advisor John R. Bolton.

Kashyap Pramod Patel, also referred to as “Kash”, a vocal supporter of President Trump, has been appointed senior director of counter-terrorism, as reported first by The Daily Beast.

Kashyap came to national notice when media reports claimed he was the author of “the Nunes memo” — a document released in February 2018 which later began to be referred to as the “Kash memo”, which alleged the FBI tried to help the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton win against Trump in the 2016 elections. The allegation was denied by Rep. Devin Nunes, R-California, then the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

“A former congressional staffer who worked feverishly to discredit the Russia investigation has recently been promoted on the National Security Council staff,” reported The Daily Beast in its July 31, 2019 report.

The National Security Council website has no mention of this appointment, when checked by News India Times. The Daily Beast said that a spokesperson for the NSC “declined to comment.”

According to a New York Times report, Patel was brought up in Garden City, New York, and graduated from Pace University law school in 2005, according to his Facebook page. He attended University of Richmond in 2002 and also has a certificate in international law from University College London Faculty of Laws, the Times reported. He served for many years as a public defender in Miami, Florida, the Times reported.

He served as a senior counsel for counterterrorism at the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Most recently he was in the NSC’s Directorate of International Organizations and Alliances.

According to a Press Trust of India report, Patel’s parents hail from East Africa and the family moved to the U.S. from Canada in 1970.

The National Security Council is the President’s principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials, the NSC website says. The Council also serves as the President’s principal arm for coordinating the policies among various government agencies. it adds.