FBI Director Kash Patel caught sleeping on required disclosure of six-figure MSTR investment: Report
CoinDesk 2026-07-02 05:24:18
Context: FBI Director Kash Patel purchased between $100,001 and $250,000 worth of shares in MicroStrategy (MSTR), a company that holds a large amount of Bitcoin, on November 21, but failed to disclose the trade to regulators until May 26, more than six months later. This delay has drawn scrutiny from government watchdogs, who say it violates the STOCK Act. The incident has renewed calls to bar federal officials from trading individual stocks.
Key Facts
- FBI Director Kash Patel purchased between $100,001 and $250,000 worth of MicroStrategy (MSTR) shares on November 21, 2025, but did not report the trade to regulators until May 26, 2026, a delay of over six months.
- The STOCK Act requires high-ranking executive branch officials to publicly disclose individual stock trades over $1,000 within 45 days from the transaction, which Patel failed to do in this case.
- MicroStrategy has built a stash of 847,363 BTC, worth over $50 billion as of the time of the report, and has done millions of dollars in business with the Justice Department over the years.
- Patel attributed the late filing to an "unspecified miscommunication," but government watchdogs, including Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette of the Project on Government Oversight, say the delay was a violation of the law.
- Despite the delay, the Department of Justice did not penalize Patel, and his disclosure has since been amended and approved, although first-time STOCK Act violations typically face a $200 fine.