section_path: Legal and governmental career (2006–2020)/Public defender and federal prosecutor (2005–2017)
section_name: Public defender and federal prosecutor (2005–2017)
paragraph_text: Public defender and federal prosecutor (2005–2017)
  
  Patel's professional career began in the Miami-Dade area. He worked as a public defender in Miami-Dade County, Florida, representing violent criminals and drug traffickers, and later as a federal public defender for the Southern District of Florida. In 2012, he began working as a junior staff member at the Department of Justice routing arrest warrants. Patel served as a board member of the South Asian Bar Association of North America.
  
  Patel temporarily served as a representative for the Criminal Division on the case against the perpetrators of the 2012 Benghazi attack, but he was allegedly removed over disagreements he had with the office leading the case, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Later, he incorrectly said he had been the case's lead prosecutor. In his memoir, he wrote that he had been asked to join the trial team against Ahmed Abu Khattala, a militia leader in the Libyan civil war. According to The New York Times, he was not offered that position.
  
  By 2013, Patel had been assigned to the National Security Division as a prosecutor. He concurrently served as a legal liaison for the Joint Special Operations Command. In January 2014, Patel took a junior position in the Counterterrorism Division. That month, he participated in a charity auction for Switchboard of Miami. At a trial for Omar Faraj Saeed al-Hardan, a Palestinian accused of providing material support to the Islamic State, Judge Lynn Hughes repeatedly berated Patel for his unprofessional attire and had him removed from the court chambers. Patel had flown from Tajikistan to the courtroom in Texas, although he was not required to be present. He left the Department of Justice in 2017, later saying that the impetus for his departure had been the department's response to the 2016 presidential election.
  
  Patel's professional career began in the Miami-Dade area. He worked as a public defender in Miami-Dade County, Florida, representing violent criminals and drug traffickers, and later as a federal public defender for the Southern District of Florida. In 2012, he began working as a junior staff member at the Department of Justice routing arrest warrants. Patel served as a board member of the South Asian Bar Association of North America.
  
  Patel temporarily served as a representative for the Criminal Division on the case against the perpetrators of the 2012 Benghazi attack, but he was allegedly removed over disagreements he had with the office leading the case, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Later, he incorrectly said he had been the case's lead prosecutor. In his memoir, he wrote that he had been asked to join the trial team against Ahmed Abu Khattala, a militia leader in the Libyan civil war. According to The New York Times, he was not offered that position.
  
  By 2013, Patel had been assigned to the National Security Division as a prosecutor. He concurrently served as a legal liaison for the Joint Special Operations Command. In January 2014, Patel took a junior position in the Counterterrorism Division. That month, he participated in a charity auction for Switchboard of Miami. At a trial for Omar Faraj Saeed al-Hardan, a Palestinian accused of providing material support to the Islamic State, Judge Lynn Hughes repeatedly berated Patel for his unprofessional attire and had him removed from the court chambers. Patel had flown from Tajikistan to the courtroom in Texas, although he was not required to be present. He left the Department of Justice in 2017, later saying that the impetus for his departure had been the department's response to the 2016 presidential election.