FBI Director Kash Patel bought between $100,001 and $250,000 of stock in MicroStrategy on November 21, 2025, but did not report the trade to federal regulators until May 26, 2026, NOTUS reported on July 1 after reviewing his federal financial records.
MicroStrategy, which calls itself a “Bitcoin Treasury Company,” is a government contractor that has done millions of dollars in business with the Justice Department, of which the FBI is a part, according to NOTUS. The FBI also investigates cryptocurrency fraud, and Patel has publicly praised the bureau's crypto seizures. The STOCK Act requires senior executive-branch officials to publicly disclose individual stock trades over $1,000 no later than 45 days after the trade. Patel disclosed the purchase about six months late, telling the Office of Government Ethics in a May 26 letter that he had “inadvertently omitted” it from an earlier filing.
The Justice Department defended him. In a May 28 letter to the Office of Government Ethics, Deputy Assistant Attorney General William Taylor said the purchase was not a conflict of interest, attributed the late filing to an unspecified “miscommunication,” and wrote, “I continue to believe that Director Patel is in compliance with applicable laws and regulations governing conflicts of interest.” An FBI official called the late reporting “not realized and unintentional.” Watchdogs disagreed. Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette of the Project on Government Oversight said the disclosure is “absolutely” late under the STOCK Act: “That's violating the law — no other way to put it.” First-time violators face a $200 fine; the FBI official said the Justice Department, which would issue or waive it, had not fined him (see Kash Patel Used an FBI Jet for 10+ Personal Trips Including the Milan Olympics, Where He Was Photographed With Beer in the Locker Room and Raskin Says Kash Patel Used the FBI Budget as a 'Personal Slush Fund,' Paying Over $1 Million in Bonuses to Loyalist Agents).
Correction (October 2, 2026): An earlier version quoted Taylor as saying Patel “is in compliance with applicable laws and regulations”; the full sentence limits that to laws and regulations “governing conflicts of interest,” which is narrower than STOCK Act compliance. It also said Patel likely never will be fined, a prediction no source supports beyond commentary, and it dated the entry June 30; NOTUS published on July 1. The title, which said he failed to disclose the purchase, now says he disclosed it late. Those passages have been corrected.