Kash Patel
FBI Director
11 findings
What the labels mean
- ConvictedA criminal jury found them guilty.
- Found liableA civil jury ruled against them.
- Court ruledA judge ruled against them or their policy.
- Watchdog foundAn inspector general, Congress's auditors at the GAO or UN investigators.
- AdmittedThey acknowledged it, or their own government's records and court filings show it.
- On recordSomething they said or did in public.
- ReportedNews reporting they deny or haven't confirmed.
- AllegedAccusations in lawsuits, complaints or from sources. Unproven.
Verdicts and rulings 1
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Court ruled
He sued a former FBI official who said Patel spends more time at nightclubs than at headquarters. A judge threw out the suit.
Judge George Hanks Jr. ruled the remark “cannot have been perceived by a person of ordinary intelligence as stating actual facts.” In July a federal judge in Nevada dismissed his $10 million suit against a blogger, finding the court lacked jurisdiction.
Admitted or on record 4
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Admitted
In his own writing, he disclosed two old alcohol-related arrests.
Public intoxication in 2001, as a college student, and public urination in 2005 after a night at bars. He called them “not representative of my usual conduct.”
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Admitted
“You’re darn right I fired those agents.”
He fired agents who had worked on Jack Smith’s investigation of Trump. Brian Driscoll, the FBI’s former acting director, is suing, saying Patel told him his own job depended on the firings. Patel denies taking orders on firings.
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On record
He announced the Charlie Kirk shooting suspect was in custody. It was the wrong man.
Less than two hours later he posted that the man had been released.
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On record
He once described making the January 6 prison-choir song: “we went to a studio and recorded it.” At his confirmation hearing, he said he “didn’t have anything to do with the recording.”
He told Sen. Adam Schiff, “What I said was, I didn’t do the recording.” He said the money raised went to families of “nonviolent offenders.”
Reported and alleged 6
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Reported
The Atlantic, citing more than two dozen people, reported his “bouts of excessive drinking.”
Those sources described “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences.” Six said meetings got pushed later because of drinking the night before. According to the magazine, his security detail had trouble waking him more than once, and at one point asked for equipment to break into a building when he wouldn’t answer. He says “I’ve never been intoxicated on the job,” and he’s suing the magazine for $250 million.
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Reported
He used the FBI jet for about a dozen personal trips, and FBI SWAT agents to guard his girlfriend.
Trips included Las Vegas, Nashville, NHL games and golf in Scotland; an FBI spokesperson put it at “about a dozen personal trips.” The FBI says the director must fly government aircraft and that he pays back the cost of a commercial fare. SWAT agents were diverted to protect his girlfriend several times; the FBI says she faces credible death threats.
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Reported
On an official trip, he took a “VIP snorkel” around the USS Arizona, where more than 900 sailors and Marines are entombed.
AP obtained emails about the trip through a public-records request. He swam near the wreck for 30 minutes, according to the Navy; the New York Times reported nine other people went with him. The FBI’s spokesman called it “a historical tour to honor heroes who died on the USS Arizona - not a party.”
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Reported
He chugged beer in Team USA’s locker room at the Olympics. Trump was unhappy about it and told him so, NBC reported.
Video posted by William Turton on X. This site doesn’t host it. Video of Patel celebrating with the gold-medal hockey team in Milan, where he flew on a government jet, went public; Trump “conveyed his displeasure in a conversation with him,” according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to NBC. Patel posted, “yes, I love America and was extremely humbled.” The White House said Trump “has full confidence in his Administration.”
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Alleged
Three fired FBI leaders say he privately admitted their firings were “likely illegal.” At a Senate hearing, he said anyone fired from the FBI “failed to meet the standards.”
Their lawsuit says Patel told then-acting director Brian Driscoll the firings were likely illegal but ordered by the White House. Patel denies taking White House orders on whom to fire.
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Reported
The FBI under him looked into a New York Times reporter who wrote about his girlfriend.
The Times reported agents searched federal databases on reporter Elizabeth Williamson and recommended pursuing a stalking case, which the Justice Department blocked. The FBI says it never investigated her. The reporting doesn’t say whether Patel knew.