The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reportedly launched what MS NOW describes as a highly unusual criminal investigation into the leak of a reporter who first revealed concerns about the FBI director’s alcohol consumption, although a second investigation revealed that Kash Patel was traveling with his own branded Woodford Reserve whiskey engraved with his name and title.
The FBI has reportedly opened a criminal leak investigation into Sarah Fitzpatrick, the Atlantic journalist whose reports about FBI Director Kash Patel’s drinking habits and erratic behavior set off a chain of legal and institutional confrontations, two people with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to MS NOW.
FBI opens investigation into insider threats to Atlantic Reporter
The investigation is described in the MS NOW report as a significant departure from how spill investigations are normally conducted in the US. Such investigations have historically focused on government officials suspected of releasing classified or state-secret material, with journalists drawn in only as potential witnesses. This case does not involve any allegations of disclosure of classified information.
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The FBI is reportedly conducting a leak investigation into Sarah Fitzpatrick, a journalist for The Atlantic. The investigation centers on her admission and release of information regarding FBI Director Kash Patel’s alleged drinking habits and behavior, rather than the release of classified information.
Sarah Fitzpatrick’s report revealed that FBI agents had serious concerns about Kash Patel’s alcohol consumption, saying he was known to drink to the point of inebriation. He also mentioned that his security department sometimes had a hard time waking him up.
A new report says Kash Patel gave out custom bottles of Woodford Reserve bourbon engraved with his name and title to FBI agents and civilians while on duty. These bottles were reportedly transported by Justice Department planes.
Yes, FBI spokesman Ben Williamson flatly denied the existence of any such investigation, calling the claims completely false and suggesting that the media plays the victim when reports of non-existent investigations are published.
The Fitzpatrick investigation is described as unusual because it targets journalists directly, not government officials. It follows other cases in which the FBI investigated journalists covering Kash Patel, including inquiries into reporters from The New York Times and a search of the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson.
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The investigation instead focuses on the journalist who received and published the information.
Agents conducting the investigation are part of the Huntsville, Ala.-based Insider Threat Unit, officials said. The unit’s standard scope applies to employees who may pose risks within the organization, not to reporters operating in the course of news gathering.
The investigation could give agents the authority to obtain Fitzpatrick’s phone records, review her information in FBI databases and examine her social media connections. It remains unclear what specific steps have already been taken.
The MS NOW report said there was considerable concern among FBI agents assigned to the matter, with both refusal and compliance considered a serious occupational hazard.
“They know they’re not supposed to do that,” said one source. “But if they don’t come forward, they could lose their jobs. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”
The FBI denies there is any investigation
The FBI flatly denied the investigation. Spokesman Ben Williamson said: “This is completely false. There is no such investigation and the reporter you mention is not being investigated at all.”
“Every time there is a publication of false claims by anonymous sources that are called out, the media plays the victim through investigations that don’t exist,” Williamson added.
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The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg issued a decisive response.
“We will have further comment when we learn more. If true, this would be an outrageous, illegal and dangerous attack on the free press and the First Amendment. We will defend Sarah and all of our reporters who are subject to government harassment simply for pursuing the truth,” Goldberg said.
What the original Fitzpatrick reports revealed
The Atlantic’s first Fitzpatrick article drew on approximately two dozen anonymous officials and reported that Kash Patel’s alcohol consumption caused serious concern among FBI employees. She said Patel was known to drink to the point of intoxication and that his security guards occasionally had trouble waking him up in the morning.
Kash Patel filed a defamation suit against The Atlantic shortly after publication, claiming the reports contained falsehoods. The magazine and Fitzpatrick both stood by the story and said they received additional confirmation after publication.
New News: Patel’s Personalized Bourbon Bottles Distributed According to Official Duties
A subsequent investigation by The Atlantic added more details to the picture of Patel’s relationship with alcohol. According to eight people, including current and former FBI and Justice Department employees and others familiar with the matter, Patel has distributed personalized branded bottles of bourbon to bureau employees and civilians he meets while on duty. Most spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation.
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The bottles bear the Kentucky Woodford Reserve distillery imprint and are engraved with the words “Kash Patel Director of the FBI” along with an image of the FBI shield. A belt of text surrounds a shield with his directorial title and the preferred stylized spelling of his first name: Ka$h. An eagle holds a shield in its talons along with the number 9, which is understood to be a reference to Patel’s place in the hierarchy of FBI directors. Some of the 750 milliliter bottles also bear Patel’s signature and the notation “#9”.
One such bottle appeared on an online auction site shortly after Fitzpatrick’s original story was published. Atlantic later bought it. The seller, who declined to be named, said it was a gift from Kash Patel at an event in Las Vegas.
Government aircraft used to transport whiskey
Kash Patel and members of his team allegedly transported whiskey aboard a Justice Department plane, including during a trip to Milan for the Winter Olympics in February. One bottle was reportedly left in the locker room during that visit, according to a person who was present and viewed a photograph of the bottle.
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During the same trip, Kash Patel was filmed drinking beer with the gold-medal-winning U.S. men’s ice hockey team, behavior that officials said was poorly received by President Donald Trump, who does not drink. Patel defended the moment at the time, characterizing it as a celebration with his “friends” from the hockey team. His use of DOJ planes to transport alcohol cases has been the subject of debate among FBI staff ever since.
Kash Patel also distributed his own branded bottles during at least one official FBI event, the officials said.
Pattern of FBI actions against journalists
The Fitzpatrick investigation is part of a broader pattern of bureau scrutiny of journalists covering Kash Patel and the FBI.
Last month, The New York Times reported that the FBI had opened an investigation into one of its reporters for allegedly violating stalking laws after a story about a security detail assigned to Patel’s girlfriend. The FBI subsequently told the paper that while it found the reporter’s methods “aggressive,” it was not pursuing a formal case.
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In January, the FBI conducted a court-authorized search that was described as unprecedented at the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson. Agents seized two computers, a recorder, a Garmin watch, a phone and a portable hard drive.
Natanson was not the subject of the underlying investigation, which centers on a system administrator with a top-secret security clearance who is accused of illegally obtaining and passing on classified material. Two federal judges have since blocked the government from examining its seized devices. On Monday, Natanson was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for public service for her reporting on mass federal job cuts at DOGE.
Separately, the FBI launched an internal investigation after former NBC News contributor Frank Figliuzzi went public about Patel’s alleged social and work habits on “Morning Joe.” A defamation lawsuit filed by Patel against Figliuzzi was subsequently dismissed by a judge who called the comments an exaggeration.
