Someone is impersonating Trump’s dossier Kash Patel on Twitter, whose guardians are rejecting the real Mr. Patel’s repeated pleas to cancel @KASHPatel_ and his unflattering tweets.
Followers of the account are reading that former House Intelligence Select Committee investigator and close aide to Rep. Devin Nunes, Republican of California, is backing political candidates, beating up Anthony Fauci and providing inside information about him. government history of COVID-19.
He is not.
For Patel, the fake account is further evidence of Twitter’s bias against conservatives, who allege that the Silicon Valley platform censoring his tweets and deleting thousands of his followers.
“Friends regularly ask me why I posted things that were actually posted by this guy,” Patel told The Washington Times. “Twitter is transparently violating its own rules on parody accounts to allow this account to remain active. Twitter carefully protects Democrats from this kind of abuse, but when it comes to conservatives, it’s open season. “
In 2017-18, Patel earned hostility from liberals and applause from conservatives by pressuring the FBI and Democratic Party agents to clear up the Kremlin dossier compiled by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele. Its 35 pages wrongly accused President Trump and his allies of a dozen electoral crimes.
As a then discreet House investigator, Patel cracked the code: Steele had been paid by Democrats for his discredited narrative, and the FBI used it to convince justices to approve a year of wiretapping a Trump volunteer. The dossier also played a role in the overall FBI “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation by falsely claiming that there was an “extensive” conspiracy between Trump and the Kremlin.
Following his committee service, Patel joined the Trump administration in high-level positions at the Pentagon, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the White House National Security Council.
A few weeks after Trump lost re-election, @KASHPatel_ appeared on Twitter. To Twitter users, the account looks authentic
A photo of Mr. Kash from a T-shirt appears to have been uploaded on a product website for the documentary “The Plot Against the President.” Patel appeared as a key figure along with other conservatives in Washington. (Twitter removed the account for the pro-Trump movie when it debuted, then reinstated it after protests from director Amanda Milius and conservatives.)
Patel’s image is adorned with the American flag and the bald eagle. In the background is a representation of the US Capitol with the label “DEEP STATE.” The profile does not recite Mr. Patel’s official resume or reveal that he is not the real Mr. Patel.
Patel’s persona has attracted more than 15,000 followers, including Trump supporters and journalists who read some decidedly right-wing provocations.
A tweet from “Patel” on May 26 supported the discredited theory that US presidential votes ended up on computer servers in Spain and Germany. A tweet from May 25 attacks journalist Jake Sherman, founder of Punchbowlnews.com.
Sherman tweeted a response to Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia. She compared the requirement for a vaccination “logo” to “like the Nazis forced the Jewish people to wear a gold star.”
Mr. Sherman responded, “I am torn here. I don’t want to give oxygen to this idiotic act, but as a Jew I feel compelled to point out how disgusting it is. “
The fake Mr. Patel replied to Mr. Sherman: “Not torn at all, he sold his soul to the devil, how many pieces of silver did he receive?”
This is a biblical reference to Judas Iscariot receiving 30 pieces of silver to betray Christ.
On the same day, the impostor Patel called for the arrest of Dr. Fauci, the White House’s top COVID-19 adviser to President Trump and now President Biden. “Arrest this smug bastard now.”
Alarmed that tweets may be affecting his reputation, Patel has asked Twitter three times to enforce its own rules on phishing and disable @KASHPatel_, according to a review of the Washington Times conversations.
Mr. Patel complained on May 11 and Twitter Support responded with a request for more documentation. Mr. Patel obeyed.
First, he cited Twitter’s requirement that the account must display the impersonated person “in a deceptive and misleading manner.”
Mr. Patel argued that @KASHPatel_ does just that.
“This account uses a real photo of me and President Trump, and then actively misleads others by pretending that it is me, who has an established name in national security. He’s trading my job, and he’s not me, what could be more misleading? “
He continued: “Here is a direct example from this Twitter page. He promotes political candidates by falsely using my name to support them… by endorsing and promoting books that I don’t. … And most of all, when discussing the origins of COVID, which as a former government employee with high-level access to classified information, I would never specifically comment, which is why your tweet from 22 hours ago pushing theories I don’t support and possibly falsely implying in leaks of classified information is totally unacceptable. Hope this satisfies Twitter policy and close this account as soon as possible. Thanks for your time.”
Patel’s argument did not impress Twitter. Twitter support staff responded on May 14 with what appears to be a repeating denial.
Twitter said: “Hello, thank you for sending us your report. For an account to violate the phishing policy, it must represent another person or company in a misleading or misleading manner. … We have investigated the account you reported and determined that it is not infringing. We understand this can be a frustrating outcome, but we appreciate your report and hope that you will inform us of other possible infractions in the future. “
An enraged Mr. Patel responded on May 18, noting that @KASHPatel_ does not give any indication that it is a fake account or a parody.
“It is not following its own policy, this is clearly political,” he wrote. “The policy of the Twitter parody account says that both the bio and the name of the account must indicate that the user is not affiliated with the subject of the account. This guy doesn’t either.
He added: “I have had media and so many others report as if this account were mine. It’s not. This is ridiculous. Do what is right, not what is subjectively politically expedient. He is literally violating both ends of his own policy, and yet the following occurs to him. I’ve never been on Twitter. It is inexplicable why you would allow this person who is exchanging my name clearly and falsely. Unless it fuels a political narrative that it supports. Outrageous.”
The next day, a form message arrived denying Mr. Patel’s request.
Mr. Patel has no idea who is behind @KASHPatel_.
