FBI Officials say drunk Kash Patel is a national security risk
More than two dozen current and former officials are raising serious alarms about Kash Patel’s conduct since taking over as FBI director, describing a pattern of heavy drinking, erratic behavior, and unexplained absences that has rattled both the bureau and the Justice Department.
According to a blockbuster report by The Atlantic, Patel’s security detail has repeatedly struggled to wake him up, on multiple occasions suspecting he was intoxicated. The situation grew so dire that agents once requested breaching equipment used by SWAT teams just to get through a locked door to reach him.
Early in his tenure, scheduled meetings and intelligence briefings had to be pushed back because Patel had been drinking the night before, according to six current and former officials with knowledge of his schedule. He has been seen regularly drinking to excess at Ned’s, an exclusive private club in Washington where White House and administration staff frequently gather, and at the Poodle Room in Las Vegas, where he spends many of his weekends.
The concerns have sharpened dramatically since Trump launched military strikes against Iran. Officials inside the FBI worry about what happens if Patel is needed to respond to a crisis and is unavailable or impaired. As one official told The Atlantic plainly: “That’s what keeps me up at night.”
Some within the administration have also begun quietly questioning whether certain high-profile missteps, including Patel spreading false information about the investigation into the killing of Charlie Kirk, may be connected to his drinking. The DOJ’s own ethics guidelines explicitly prohibit employees from habitually using alcohol or other intoxicants to excess.
The Atlantic’s investigation drew on interviews with more than two dozen people, including active and former FBI officials, congressional staffers, intelligence community members, political operatives, lobbyists, and hospitality industry workers.
The White House pushed back through Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who touted crime statistics and called Patel “a critical player” on the administration’s law enforcement team. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche dismissed the reporting as an “anonymously sourced hit piece.” Patel himself denied everything, saying through an FBI spokesperson: “Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court.”- Really American