A scathing 115-page report into the state of the FBI under Kash Patel has exposed turmoil and friction as agents turn on him and even Trump administration allies admit he is out of his depth.
The bombshell report, written by an alliance of active-duty and retired agents who railed against former president Joe Biden‘s DEI policies, described the FBI as ‘a rudderless ship’ and ‘all f**ked up’ under Patel.
Barely six months into the job, Patel has already been mired in controversy over his use of a government jet to visit his country singer girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, and his astonishing decision to assign a SWAT team to protect her.
The damaging new dossier, obtained by the New York Post’s Miranda Devine, detailed an embarrassing tantrum Patel allegedly threw after the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
Patel reportedly flew into Provo, Utah, on September 11, the day after the assassination, and refused to ‘disembark from the plane without an FBI raid jacket.’
He did not have his own, and was so concerned about the optics that he pulled Salt Lake City FBI field agents from the investigation and ordered them to find him a medium-sized jacket.
They eventually tracked down one he could wear but embarrassingly, it belonged to a female agent.
Patel was reportedly fuming when he received the jacket and erupted when he noticed ‘two areas on the upper sleeves did not have Velcro patches attached’, and still refused to step off the plane.
Patel allegedly refused to get off his private plane without an FBI raid jacket after Charlie Kirk’s assassination
The damning review of his first six months in the job comes as he faces mounting criticism over his use of a government jet to travel to his country singer girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, and assigning a SWAT team to protect her
Ultimately, ‘members of an FBI SWAT Team took patches off their uniforms and ran those patches over’ to stop Patel’s outburst.
Only then did he disembark the plane, the report claims.
The alliance revealed sources who contributed to the report and openly support Trump described Patel as ‘not very good’ and noted he ‘may be insecure.’
Patel, a MAGA loyalist who once said he would shut down the FBI building on day one and accused the bureau of being part of the ‘Deep State,’ was appointed after a 51-49 vote and blistering battle between and Republicans.
His appointment was just one in a series of controversial Trump nominees to make it through confirmation along party lines as Republicans had enough senators to confirm them without bipartisan support.
Patel took over from Christopher Wray, who Trump also nominated during his first term before turning on him.
The FBI boss started his career as a public defender. He later worked as a prosecutor in the Justice Department before serving as a senior aide to the House Intelligence Committee under then-chair Congressman Devin Nunes.
He also worked as a staffer to the National Security Council during Trump’s first term, in the office of the Director of National Intelligence and as chief of staff to the acting defense secretary.
The FBI insiders appeared to support concerns he ‘lacks the requisite experience’ or ‘measured self confidence’ to thrive in a role as demanding and high pressure as FBI director.
They cited Patel’s eagerness to address the public in the immediate aftermath of Kirk’s assassination, which led him to incorrectly announce that investigators had someone in custody when they did not.
Later, he ‘did a disservice to the FBI by breaking with Bureau tradition and norms by taking credit for the good work by other agencies,’ one agent revealed.
Patel seemed to imply that the outcome of the investigation would not have been possible without his direct involvement.
Both he and his deputy, Dan Bongino, faced scathing criticism in the report for their ‘unfortunate obsession with social media.’
According to the White House, Patel enjoys Trump’s full support
Bongino faced further embarrassment in the report, described as ‘something of a clown’ who multiple agents said never should have been considered for the deputy role
One source advised the duo to ‘stop talking, stop posing, and just be professional’, while another contributor said both men are ‘spending too much time on social media and public relations’ and ‘are too often concerned with building their own personal resumes.’
Many agents said they often heard news about internal operations via Patel and Bongino’s X and social media platforms, rather than through the appropriate chains of command.
Bongino faced further embarrassment in the report, described as ‘something of a clown’ who multiple agents said never should have been considered for the deputy role.
It should have instead gone to a ‘career FBI Special Agent’ who would have offered more experience and knowledge alongside Patel’s relative inexperience.
One source recalled Bongino telling agents ‘the truth is for chumps’ during a visit to a field office which left staff ‘shocked, offended and appalled.’
In spite of the scathing nature of the report, the authors noted it ‘was never intended to be a hit piece in any way, shape or form.
‘But the anecdotal reporting from FBI personnel skewed 80/20 negative,’ they added.
The report did celebrate the fact that the FBI under Patel is making ‘case work and threats the priority’ in a noted shift away from the Biden-era DEI policies and politicization of the agency.
The report did celebrate the fact that the FBI under Patel is making ‘case work and threats the priority’ in a noted shift away from the Biden-era DEI policies and politicization of the agency
The 45-year-old bureau head has been forced to defend his decision to assign an entire SWAT team from the agency’s Atlanta field office to shadow his 27-year-old girlfriend Alexis Wilkins
The 45-year-old bureau head has been forced to defend his decision to assign an entire SWAT team from the agency’s Atlanta field office to shadow his 27-year-old girlfriend Alexis Wilkins at the NRA’s annual conference in April.
He reportedly ‘ripped into’ the assigned team after he learned that the agents left before the event was over after determining that Wilkins was in no apparent danger.
He slammed the team’s commander for leaving his girlfriend unprotected and slammed the agents’ dismissal as a ‘failure of the chain of command.’
It was not the first time Patel used his authority to grant his aspiring country singer girlfriend extra protection, either, as he also deployed ‘elite FBI agents’ who typically work with the Nashville office’s SWAT team to watch her in her home city.
Bureau officials also said agents from the tactical division in Salt Lake City, Utah were ordered to provide protective detail to Wilkins at an event in September – despite having just worked grueling hours following Kirk‘s assassination.
That work was only made harder when Patel took to X to announce that the ‘subject’ in Kirk’s murder was finally ‘in custody’ just hours after Kirk was killed.
In a post shared at 6:21pm, the director wrote: ‘Thank you to the local and state authorities in Utah for your partnership with the FBI.’
But just over an hour later – at 7:59pm – Patel walked back his earlier statement, announcing that the subject ‘has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement.’
Two sources with knowledge of his movements revealed that he was actually in New York City that evening, dining at high-end Italian hotspot Rao’s.
It has since been revealed the FBI director also used the government plane to attend a golf outing in Scotland, in which FBI agents coordinated his transportation and security arrangements with Scottish and British authorities.
That included deploying an advance team and round the clock security personnel known as ‘ravens’ to guard his plane.
In spite of the mounting backlash, the White House has so far stood behind Patel without making any reference to Wilkins.
‘FBI Director Patel is restoring integrity to the FBI and doing an excellent job implementing the President’s agenda,’ Abigail Jackson told the Daily Mail.
