FBI Director Kash Patel is under sustained political fire following an explosive report from The Atlantic this week alleging erratic behaviour, excessive drinking and unexplained absences that multiple current and former officials told the publication had begun affecting his job performance.
The Atlantic cited officials describing Patel, 46, as “paranoid” and prone to heavy drinking, with one episode allegedly seeing him struggle to log into a government computer system before panicking he was about to be fired — a detail that his own $250 million defamation lawsuit filed against The Atlantic appears to partially corroborate, conceding that a “technical problem logging into a government system” did occur on April 10.
Representative Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, was among the first to go on record, telling reporters that Patel “appears to be a raging alcoholic” who “should not be the FBI director” and should seek treatment — language that crossed a line most elected officials had previously avoided in discussing behavioural concerns about a senior official.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went further, framing the issue as a national security threat rather than a personal failing, saying “absolutely” when asked point-blank by a reporter — and explaining that a person conducting themselves in a “compromised way in public” in a position like the FBI directorship creates “opportunities for blackmail.”
Representative Seth Magaziner cited specific operational failures as more damning than the drinking allegations, pointing to Patel incorrectly announcing on social media that law enforcement had apprehended suspects in both the Brown University shooting and the Charlie Kirk shooting when they had not — errors he described as actively dangerous to public safety.
The viral clip of Patel celebrating with the US men’s Olympic hockey team in February — in which he is seen chugging beer and singing with players in the locker room — has resurfaced as exhibit A for critics, while Republican Representative Richard Dean McCormick defended Patel, saying “I’ve seen plenty of guys drink and have fun” and that what officials do in their personal time is their own business.
Patel has denied the allegations in the report, and The Atlantic has called his lawsuit “meritless,” saying it stands behind its reporting — but the combination of a sitting FBI director suing a major publication for $250 million while congressional calls for his resignation grow louder represents a level of institutional turbulence at the Bureau that has no modern precedent.
