FBI Director Kash Patel Patel is indeed concerned that his position may be in jeopardy, The Atlantic reported, citing several current officials along with former colleagues who remain in close contact with him. They reportedly note that he has reasons for those concerns, some of which are linked to what witnesses describe as episodes of heavy drinking.
After Attorney General Pam Bondi was fired on April 2, Patel was widely seen as one of the next officials likely to be fired, the report said. “We’re all just waiting for word” that he’s officially out, one FBI official said this week. The former official also told journalist Jonathan Lemire that Patel’s anxiety about his position was “legitimate”.
Senior officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration have already begun discussing his potential replacement, according to an administration official and two people close to the White House, the report said.
What allegedly happened on April 10th before the weekend?
As Patel was preparing to leave for the weekend on Friday, April 10, he reportedly encountered problems logging into the internal system. Believing he had been locked out, he became alarmed and began urgently contacting aides and allies, saying he believed the White House had fired him, the report said, adding that nine people familiar with the incident said his reaction was remarkably frantic, with two describing it as “frenzy.”
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He was not released. According to two people familiar with the situation, the login issue was likely just a technical glitch and was quickly resolved. “It was all bullshit in the end,” said one FBI official.
The DOJ ethics manual states that “an employee is prohibited from consuming alcohol or other intoxicating substances excessively.”
Patel’s drinking regime is widely known, the report said. During an official trip to Italy in February, he was spotted downing a beer alongside the US men’s Olympic ice hockey team after winning the gold medal. The episode reportedly led the president, who abstains from alcohol and lost his brother after a long battle with alcoholism, to personally call the FBI director to express his displeasure, according to two officials familiar with the conversation, according to The Atlantic.
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But his sources said Patel’s alcohol use went far beyond occasional drinking. Some FBI officials and members of the administration are said to have privately expressed concern that alcohol may have contributed to moments when he shared incorrect details about ongoing law enforcement investigations, including the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder.
Some of Patel’s colleagues at the FBI are concerned that his personal behavior may threaten public safety, the report said. They believe that the role of FBI director requires constant availability and undivided attention, especially at a time when the country is engaged in a conflict with a state that supports terrorism.
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According to current and former officials, there have reportedly been lingering concerns about how Patel might handle a domestic terrorism incident while in office, and those concerns have intensified in recent weeks following Trump’s decision to launch a military campaign against Iran. “This is what keeps me up at night,” the report quoted one official as saying.
Just days before the United States began its war with Iran, Patel fired several members of counterintelligence, which was partly focused on Iran. In testimony to Congress, he said the agents were removed because their involvement in the investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents violated the agency’s ethics guidelines. However, several officials expressed concern that the layoffs were done too hastily and could create a shortage of staff in the country at a critical time.
