One source said they were concerned about how Kash Patel would handle a terror attack on America. Photo / Getty Images
Kash Patel, the director of the FBI, has denied he is a threat to US national security following allegations about heavy drinking and erratic behaviour.
An article in The Atlantic alleged that Patel was paranoid about losing his job and that staff had been forced to delay his briefings after nights of drinking.
The FBI director furiously denied the allegations and told the magazine: “Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court – bring your chequebook.”
It is alleged that Patel’s security team had had difficulty waking him because of his intoxication.
At one point, officials are said to have put in a request for breaching equipment, normally used by Swat and hostage rescue teams to break into buildings, because the FBI director could not be reached.
Some of Patel’s colleagues were said to fear his behaviour was endangering public safety, and were concerned about his response if a domestic terror attack were to occur, particularly at a time of high alert during the Iran war, the report claimed.
“That’s what keeps me up at night,” one official said.
Patel said in a subsequent statement on social media: “See you and your entire entourage of false reporting in court ... But do keep at it with the fake news, actual malice standard is now what some would call a legal lay up.”
He has been at the centre of a number of controversies in his 14 months as head of the agency, including sharing inaccurate information about live investigations.
When Charlie Kirk, the conservative influencer, was assassinated in September, the FBI director inaccurately announced that authorities had a suspect in custody.
In October, he declared the FBI had thwarted a terrorist attack before charges had been filed, prompting two suspects who plotted to blow up a gay bar to flee.
After a high-profile shooting at Brown University in December, he announced on social media that the FBI had detained a “person of interest”. The individual was later released.
Patel’s relationship with his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, the country music singer, has also proved contentious. The FBI director took flights on publicly funded private jets to see her, prompting criticism even among MAGA supporters.
During a Government shutdown in October, when much of the FBI workforce was not paid, he used the bureau’s private jet to fly to Pennsylvania to watch the 27-year-old musician perform at a wrestling match.
Two days later, he flew to Texas, where, the Wall Street Journal reported, he had visited a hunting spot, Boondoggle Ranch, owned by a Republican donor friend.
At the Winter Olympics in February, Patel was seen chugging beer with the US men’s hockey team in their dressing room.
Ben Williamson, the director of public affairs at the FBI, had strenuously denied Patel was in Italy to “hang out at the Olympics”, the day before footage of Patel circulated on social media.
Donald Trump, whose brother died of alcoholism, reportedly called Patel to convey his unhappiness after the footage of him drinking beer with the hockey team.
According to the US Department of Justice (DoJ) handbook, employees are “prohibited from habitually using alcohol or other intoxicants to excess”. The DoJ inspector general has warned that off-duty alcohol consumption can make officials vulnerable to exploitation by foreign adversaries.
Trump has allegedly complained that Patel appeared unprepared for television interviews and that investigations into his political enemies had not moved quickly enough.
Senior members of the Trump administration have discussed who might replace him as head of the FBI, the Atlantic reported, citing an administration official and two people close to the White House.
Patel “freak[ed] out” this month when he struggled to log on to an internal computer system, believing he had been fired, the Atlantic added.
He has also conducted purges of experienced staff. Days before the US launched its war with Iran, he sacked members of a counter-intelligence team that tracked threats from Tehran. Patel told Congress he fired the agents because they had investigated Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents in his first term.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, did not deny the reports when approached by The Telegraph.
She said: “Under President Trump and Director Patel’s leadership at the FBI, crime across the country has plummeted to the lowest level in more than 100 years and many high profile criminals have been put behind bars. Director Patel remains a critical player on the Administration’s law and order team.”
On Saturday evening, Patel wrote on X: “Memo to the fake news – the only time I’ll ever actually be concerned about the hit piece lies you write about me will be when you stop. Keep talking, it means I’m doing exactly what I should be doing. And no amount of BS you write will ever deter this FBI from making America safe again and taking down the criminals you love.”
The FBI has been approached for comment.
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