Opinion: Kash Patel is on thin ice… and he knows it

The United States’ FBI director is an infamous character in Trump’s circus of a cabinet. Kash Patel, 46, has made a fool of himself dozens of times, both before and after being appointed as the head of the FBI – the worlds third most significant special investigation bureau. Since his appointment in February 2025, Patel has routinely shown his incompetence, and utter lack of experience in relation to his new position. While Trump has been brushing Patel’s controversies under the proverbial rug, The Atlantic released what can only be described as a hit piece on April 17, titled ‘The FBI Director Is MIA’. The article breaks down Patels unprofessionalism, excessive drinking, and concerning habits in great detail, including featured interviews from White House staffers and FBI officials to verify the authors claims.

Before we break down all of the accusations voiced in the article, context is important. After the article was released, Patel announced he would be suing the publication for $250m, claiming defamation. According to Patel, The Atlantic did not give him the opportunity to dispute these claims before the story was published, and that all of the information included was false. The FBI released a quote attributed to Patel who reportedly told The Atlantic “Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court—bring your checkbook.” The Atlantic printed it, and will now have to face the spurned Patel in court.

While Patel claims The Atlantic failed to go through the proper systems to print the story, the publication claims otherwise. Reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick asked both The White House, and the Justice Department about the information, and according to her, neither of them disputed any of the claims made. Fitzpatrick sent a detailed list of 19 questions to both groups, and the only response tangible enough to use was from spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. According to Leavitt,

While the ‘hit piece’ was certainly anonymously sourced, it included a dozen different sources from within the US government and the FBI. Additionally, Sarah Fitzpatrick fact-checked the story correctly by going through the White House and DoJ before going to print. Patel claims that Fitzpatrick did not give enough time for the government to provide an in-depth answer, but the White House was provided with two hours to dispute any of the facts in the article, and it didn’t.

Patels patented ‘freak-outs’

While the laundry list of reported odd behaviour exhibited by Patel is long enough to drain your fabric softener, it didn’t all begin in a vacuum. Certainly, his past (and present) is marred with drunken photos and videos, but Patel’s red flags didn’t begin on day one; they were slowly hoisted over the last year. See, rumours have been circulating that Kash Patel has long since fallen out of favour with his benefactor, Donald Trump. After Attorney General Pam Bondi was suddenly (and thankfully) canned by Trump, multiple reports were released that the underperforming Patel was next. Patel, who frequently struggles with media addresses, has continually made the FBI appear incompetent in front of the press, and it seemed only a matter of time before he would be dumped. The video of Patel partying like a frat boy with the US men’s hockey team (on the taxpayers’ dime, no less) also put a sour taste in the mouths of Americans on both sides of the political spectrum. Most Americans don’t want the director of the FBI to remind them of their out-of-control little brother hopped up on Four-Lokos at an Alabama tailgate.

The Atlantic and Sarah Fitzpatrick released an article claiming that Patel was on the chopping block, citing multiple sources from inside Trump’s cabinet. It seems Patel is aware as well. On April 10, Kash Patel was struggling to get into an internal communication system. Whether he forgot his password or was just struggling with the computer as a whole, we don’t know. What we do know is what Patel did next. In a moment of panic, Patel scrambled to assemble aides and political allies to announce that he had been fired from Trump’s cabinet. Nine separate sources confirmed this moment with The Atlantic, and two of those sources called it a major ‘freak out’. As the news swept through the FBI and Congress, both parties frantically contacted the White House to find out who the new FBI director would be. It turned out to still be Patel. Kash Patel had not been fired; he had just failed to correctly log into the internal system. According to the FBI, it was a technical error. Regardless, instead of handling the situation with poise and composure, you would hope the FBI director has, Patel lost it and cried his own firing from the rooftops of DC.

Accountability, abundance, and alcohol

Kash Patel’s seemingly erratic behaviour can certainly be chalked up to his anxiety regarding job security, but according to The Atlantic’s sources, his drinking is another serious issue in the White House. Everybody is familiar with Patel’s drinking antics (I’ll refer you to the locker room video from Italy in February), and it’s common knowledge that Donald Trump disapproves. The president famously doesn’t drink, and his brother died aged 42 due to his alcoholism. The DoJ’s handbook reads that “an employee is prohibited from habitually using alcohol or other intoxicants to excess.” This includes an employee’s actions outside of work hours. The department’s inspector general has advised employees that excessive drinking can and will impair their judgment; it can also make them vulnerable to exploitation or coercion by foreign adversaries.

According to Fitzpatrick and The Atlantic, Patel’s drinking is the worst-kept secret in the White House. Multiple sources confirm that Kash Patel frequently becomes ‘visually intoxicated’ at Ned’s (a private club in DC) in front of White House officials and other administrative staff members. Patel also reportedly frequently drinks to excess in the Poodle Room, in Las Vegas, where he spends many of his weekends. Reportedly, early in Patel’s tenure as FBI director, meetings and briefings had to be rescheduled for later in the day as a result of his alcohol-fueled nights. This fact was independently confirmed by six different individuals working under Patel. There were reportedly multiple days when Patel’s security staff could not wake him in time for work, and one instance where the federal government had to use breaching equipment (usually reserved for SWAT) to burst open a locked door that Patel was behind, unconscious after a night of drinking.

Drinking and denying

Patel’s alcohol consumption has apparently become such a story in the White House that some staffers and FBI members are allegedly questioning how many of Patel’s missteps have been due to his drinking. After Charlie Kirk was killed in Indiana, Patel quickly shared inaccurate information about active law enforcement investigations. Patel also almost immediately claimed that the FBI had “detained a person of interest” in the Brown University shooting in December. That person was released just hours after the post. Just days before the US attacked Iran in February, Patel fired members of a counterintelligence squad that was devoted, in part, to Iran. According to reports from inside the FBI, the firings were rushed and caused the US to be vulnerable at a crucial moment. With the US currently in an informal state of war, nobody is sleeping well thinking about Kash Patel’s control over the FBI.

Patel has also made a habit of pressuring his own employees. According to The Atlantic, Patel has been having FBI employees polygraphed in an effort to identify leakers. Distrust for Patel seems like a virus spreading through the FBI and into the government. His public obsession with ‘anti-Trump’ enemies (that probably got him his appointment in the first place) has created major rifts in the FBI, and his decisions have consistently weakened the agency. A current official described people inside the bureau as feeling “besieged, disillusioned—or even angry”.

With Patel in charge of the FBI, officials claim the agency is weaker today than it was before he was hired. How long Patel can hold out against his critics is anybody’s guess, but the longer he goes, the more irreparable the damage will be.