Last month, The Atlantic published a report on how Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel’s excessive drinking could pose a threat to national security.
Now, in a new report, the publication stated that Patel is handing out personalised, branded bottles of bourbon featuring his name, personal logo and FBI shield as gifts to staff and civilians, all while a defamation lawsuit against the Atlantic and its reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick is filed.
The Atlantic reported that Patel has handed over bottles of bourbon from the Kentucky distillery Woodford Reserve, engraved with the words “Kash Patel FBI Director”.
Read | FBI Chief Kash Patel Was Arrested For Public Drinking, Urination: Report
His whisky has been transported using a Department of Justice plane, including when he went to Milan for the Olympics in February.
This was when Patel was filmed chugging beer with the gold medal-winning US men’s hockey team. It did not sit right with the teetotalling US President Donald Trump, officials said, according to the report. The use of the DOJ plane to transport whisky has been a topic of discussion for the FBI staff.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the FBI said that the gifts are routine within the department and wider government. He said that “the bottles in question are part of a tradition in the FBI that started well over a decade ago, long before Director Patel arrived. Senior bureau officials have long exchanged commemorative items in formal gift settings consistent with ethics rules. Director Patel has followed all applicable ethical guidelines and pays for any personal gift himself.”
Read | Kash Patel Is ‘Repeatedly Drunk’ In Public, Claims Report, He Says “Fake News”
However, the report said that several current and former FBI employees stated that this ritual of the director handing out personalised bottles of liquor was “unheard of”. Traditionally, the FBI has a zero-tolerance approach towards alcohol and its misuse while on duty.
“It is so weird and uncomfortable,” a source told the publication. A former agent said that it is “demoralising” because it seems that there are separate standards for the director and the bureau.
At least one bottle of bourbon reportedly disappeared during an FBI training event in Quantico, Virginia, earlier this year, triggering chaos inside the bureau. The seminar, held in March, was organised by Patel and included UFC fighters giving mixed martial arts lessons to FBI recruits and senior officials. Multiple cases of bourbon had been brought to the facility for the event.
According to Kurt Siuzdak, a retired FBI agent who now advises bureau employees and whistleblowers on legal matters, Patel reacted furiously after the missing bottle was discovered. Siuzdak said agents reached out to him after Patel allegedly threatened staff with polygraph tests and possible prosecution over the incident. “It turned into a shitshow,” Siuzdak said. Other lawyers reportedly received similar complaints from FBI personnel worried about the fallout tied to the missing liquor.
Read | Trump Event Shooter Names Kash Patel As Only US Official Off Target List
Siuzdak said many agents feel trapped because reporting concerns about Patel could come at a professional cost. FBI employees “have a duty to disclose wrongdoing”, he said. But if you make allegations against Patel, “you’re screwed.”
He added that agents are especially worried about being linked to behaviour that falls outside normal FBI standards, fearing it could later damage their credibility in court. “Street agents know that integrity is the most important thing for their jobs,” he said. “Without integrity, you can’t testify.”
Drawing on more than two decades in the FBI and additional military experience, Siuzdak said he has been giving blunt advice to current bureau employees seeking help: “I tell people to run from him.”
“Handing out bottles of liquor at the premier law enforcement agency – it makes me frightened for the country,” George Hill, a former FBI supervisory intelligence analyst, said. “Standards apply to everything and everyone – especially the boss.”