Kash Patel reportedly gripped by panic and leak paranoia at FBI

The walls appear to be closing in around President Donald Trump’s FBI director, Kash Patel.

A widening series of reports describing polygraph threats, leak investigations, paranoia over internal dissent, and escalating turmoil inside the FBI have painted a portrait of a director increasingly consumed by suspicion as damaging stories about his conduct continue spilling into public view.

According to a new report from Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian at MS NOW, Patel ordered lie detector examinations for more than two dozen current and former members of his security detail and support staff as part of an aggressive effort to identify suspected leakers inside the bureau.

The report, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, said Patel has grown deeply distrustful of people around him, at times isolating himself from senior FBI leadership while fixating on who may be speaking to reporters.

The allegations come amid mounting controversy over Patel’s management of the bureau and reports of behavior that critics say has rattled morale inside one of the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agencies.

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In April, journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick published a widely discussed investigation in The Atlantic alleging Patel’s “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences” alarmed current and former FBI and Justice Department officials. The article cited more than two dozen sources who described a chaotic leadership atmosphere and growing concern over Patel’s conduct.

Among the most striking allegations was a revelation that members of Patel’s security detail allegedly struggled at one point to contact him behind locked doors strongly enough that agents discussed obtaining breaching equipment typically associated with tactical operations.

Patel, who is being sued by a gay former FBI employee who alleges the director fired him over having a Pride flag at his desk during the prior administration, denied the allegations of excessive alcohol use and later filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic and Fitzpatrick, accusing the publication of knowingly publishing falsehoods.

But the controversy has only deepened as the publication, which called the lawsuit "meritless," continues to report.

This week, a new article by The Atlantic’s Fitzpatrick revealed that Patel allegedly distributed personalized bourbon bottles engraved with “Ka$h Patel FBI Director” alongside official FBI insignia at bureau events and on official travel.

Several current and former officials described the practice as deeply unusual within a bureau long associated with rigid professionalism and strict internal culture around alcohol use.

One episode reportedly became symbolic of the growing dysfunction. After a bottle allegedly disappeared during an FBI leadership seminar at Quantico, the FBI Academy’s campus in Virginia, Patel reportedly threatened personnel with polygraph examinations to determine who took it.

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The atmosphere inside the bureau reportedly grew even more tense after MS NOW separately reported that the FBI launched what sources described as an “insider threat” investigation focused on leaks to Fitzpatrick following her Atlantic story. According to the report, agents from an insider threats unit in Huntsville, Alabama, were tasked with examining leaks related to the article.

The FBI has defended Patel repeatedly in recent days. Bureau spokesperson Ben Williamson denied reports that the FBI launched a criminal leak probe tied to Fitzpatrick’s reporting and said commemorative alcohol gifts were consistent with longstanding bureau traditions.

Still, the broader picture emerging from multiple reports has intensified concerns among lawmakers, former federal officials, and press freedom advocates.

House Democrats led by Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin recently called for Patel to undergo alcohol abuse screening after the Atlantic report.

Media advocates have warned that any effort to aggressively target sources or reporters for embarrassing internal stories, particularly in the absence of allegations involving classified information, constitutes a dangerous escalation of hostility toward the press.

The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, responding to reports of leak investigations tied to Fitzpatrick’s reporting, described the possibility as “an outrageous attack on the free press and the First Amendment.”