{"id":208200,"date":"2026-04-19T12:19:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T12:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/fbis-kash-patel-denies-excess-drinking-amid-officials-us-security-concerns-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T12:19:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T12:19:39","slug":"fbis-kash-patel-denies-excess-drinking-amid-officials-us-security-concerns-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/fbis-kash-patel-denies-excess-drinking-amid-officials-us-security-concerns-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI\u2019s Kash Patel denies excess drinking amid officials\u2019 US security concerns – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Agency director threatens to sue Atlantic for report citing allegations from two dozen current and former colleagues
The FBI director, Kash Patel, is denying allegations detailed in a new report<\/a> that he drinks to excess and has been unreachable at times during his tenure in office.
Patel threatened to sue the Atlantic over the story published on Friday, which detailed his alleged heavy drinking and how members of his security detail have on multiple occasions had difficulty waking him.
It also stated that Patel is concerned he might soon be fired, according to current and former government officials.
Patel told the Atlantic: \u201cPrint it, all false, I\u2019ll see you in court \u2013 bring your checkbook.\u201d
On Saturday, Patel published an X post<\/a> on his official FBI account addressed to what he called \u201cthe fake news\u201d over \u201cthe hit piece lies you write about me\u201d.
\u201cKeep talking,\u201d Patel wrote. \u201cIt means I\u2019m doing exactly what I should be doing. And no amount of BS you write will ever deter this FBI<\/a> from making America safe again and taking down the criminals you love.\u201d
The allegations, attributed to two dozen current and former officials, are just the latest incidents to raise questions about Patel\u2019s professionalism and ability to lead the top US federal law enforcement and intelligence agency.
He has faced criticism for prematurely announcing<\/a> on social media that his agency had tracked down suspects in the murder of Charlie Kirk and in a shooting at Brown University; for using a government jet to see his girlfriend<\/a> sing the national anthem at a wrestling match<\/a>; and for traveling to Milan on an FBI jet<\/a> to watch the US men\u2019s hockey team compete in the finals and then chugging a beer<\/a> with them in the locker room after they won.
A group of retired and active FBI agents also produced a report<\/a> last year stating that Patel was \u201cin over his head\u201d and \u201clacks the requisite knowledge or deep understanding of all the FBI\u2019s unique and complex investigative and intelligence programs\u201d.
Despite his tumultuous tenure, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told the Atlantic in the latest report that since Trump took office, \u201cCrime 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\u2019s law and order team.\u201d
But the report states that Patel drinks heavily at clubs in Washington DC and Las Vegas, where he frequently spends weekends. Meetings and briefings have been rescheduled as a result of his alcohol-fueled nights, six current and former officials told the Atlantic.
Once, when Patel was behind locked doors and his security could not reach him last year, \u201ca request for \u2018breaching equipment\u2019 \u2013 normally used by SWAT and hostage-rescue teams to quickly gain entry into buildings \u2013 was made\u201d, journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick reported.
Officials also said that Patel\u2019s behavior had become a threat to public safety and that they worried what would happen in the event of a domestic terrorist attack.
An FBI official told the Atlantic, \u201cWe\u2019re all just waiting for the word\u201d that Patel has been fired.
The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods:
The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS<\/a>\/Android<\/a>) and go to the menu. Select \u2018Secure Messaging\u2019.
Our guide at theguardian.com\/tips<\/a> lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each. <\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Agency director threatens to sue Atlantic for report citing allegations from two dozen current and former colleaguesThe FBI director, Kash Patel, is denying allegations detailed in a new report that he drinks to excess and has been unreachable at times during his tenure in office.Patel threatened to sue the Atlantic over the story published on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":208201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-208200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}