FBI Director Kash Patel has threatened to sue over bombshell claims reported in a magazine profile that the Trump administration official is deeply paranoid about being fired and often drinks to excess, alarming officials at the law enforcement agency and beyond.
The alleged conduct, which Patel has called “false reporting,” has left officials alarmed about what would happen if the FBI was needed in a national crisis such as a terror attack.
“That’s what keeps me up at night,” one unnamed official told The Atlantic, which published the claims Friday evening.
The piece details a host of concerning incidents and allegations.
On April 10, according to the magazine, the director flew into a paranoid “freak-out” when faced with a technical issue with a computer system. The report claims Patel thought it was a sign he was being fired and he began calling aides and allies in a panic.
Word of the alleged meltdown reportedly spread quickly through Washington D.C. and the White House got calls about who was really leading the FBI, according to The Atlantic.
The most explosive allegations in the article are regarding Patel’s alleged excessive drinking.
The official is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication at clubs in Washington and his home city of Las Vegas, according to the piece, violating FBI conduct standards and potentially leaving the nation’s top law enforcement official vulnerable to coercion or exploitation.
Early in his time leading the bureau, meetings had...
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