The FBI director's apparent meltdown over a missing branded bourbon bottle has triggered a wave of legal calls from agents, fresh polygraph orders across his security detail, and a defamation lawsuit that appears to have only encouraged further reporting.
FBI Director Kashyap 'Kash' Patel allegedly threatened to polygraph and prosecute bureau staff after a personalised bottle ofWoodford Reserve bourbonwent missing at a training event in Quantico, Virginia, in March,according to reporting by The Atlantic's Sarah Fitzpatrick.
The story lands as a separateMS Now investigationreveals that Patel ordered lie detector tests for more than two dozen former and current members of his security detail and several information technology staff this week.
Fitzpatrick reported that Patel routinely travels with a supply of engraved Woodford Reserve bottles bearing the words 'Kash Patel FBI Director,' alongside a rendering of an FBI shield. A band of text around the shield features his favoured stylisation of his name, 'Ka$h,' and an eagle holds the shield in its talons alongside the number nine, referencing his position in the bureau's director lineage. Some 750-millilitre bottles also carry his signature and the '#9' designation.
Eight current and former FBI and Department of Justice employees confirmed to the outlet that they had received the personalised bottles. One of those bottles appeared on an online auction site, and The Atlantic purchased it directly.
A source told the magazine the bottle was a gift from Patel at an event in Las Vegas. The bureau does not dispute the practice, with a spokesperson describing it as'part of a tradition in the FBI that started well over a decade ago,'though it declined to clarify which ethics rules applied or cite comparable examples from previous directors.
Several current and former agents told The Atlantic the bottles were demoralising. George Hill, a former FBI supervisory intelligence analyst, said the practice reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the bureau's culture, telling the magazine: 'Handing out bottles of liquor at the premier law-enforcement agency, it makes me frightened for the country.' Another former official described the atmosphere under Patel as a growing 'cult of personality.'
In March, Patel brought at least one case of the personalised bourbon to the FBI's training facility at Quantico, Virginia, for what sources described as a 'training seminar' featuring Ultimate Fighting Championship athletes. At least one bottle went missing during the event. According to clients ofKurt Siuzdak, a retired FBI agent with more than 20 years of service who assists bureau employees with legal matters, Patel 'lost his mind.'
Siuzdak told Fitzpatrick he was subsequently contacted by multiple FBI agents seeking legal guidance after Patel began threatening to polygraph and prosecute staff over the missing bottle. 'It turned into a sh*tshow,' Siuzdak said. Other attorneys contacted by The Atlantic said they had received similar calls from worried employees.
New reporting reveals FBI Director Kash Patel gifts custom engraved bottles of bourbon to FBI employees and friends.pic.twitter.com/YEqYEnXF4X
Source: International Business Times UK
