FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly forced more than two dozen staff members of his security detail to go through lie detector tests. This is his attempt to know who leaked information about him. It comes after The Atlantic piece on him that revealed Patel has a drinking problem, which has caused issues at work.
The article also revealed that on several occasions, his drinking habits made him anxious. At one point, he thought he was fired as he could not log in to the computer system. He was paranoid that Donald Trump might have fired him.
Insiders anonymously revealed that he reached out to several people during that time. However, Patel denied these claims and even launched a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the publication.
Allegedly Kash Patel once lost his mind after one of his precious personal Bourbon bottles went missing from his Collection so he threatened FBI agents with a lie detector test.This happened when he & his team brought a case to the FBI training center in Quantico for a seminar. pic.twitter.com/r7D0vD8ukK
— Suzie rizzio (@Suzierizzo1) May 7, 2026
According to MS NOW, Patel ordered the polygraph tests for current as well as former members, including several IT workers. On the other hand, FBI spokesman Ben Williamson has refuted these claims.
He noted, “I’ve been in the usual operational leader meetings with him every day this week… It’s false. The only people in panic are the ‘panicans’ in the media pushing out false stories because they spend zero time covering the record-breaking success in the reduction of crime at the FBI.”
Despite the denial, it was reported that the FBI directors had launched a criminal leak investigation to find the insiders who leaked the information.
Sarah Fitzpatrick, who wrote the Atlantic hit piece, is unbothered and stands by what she wrote in the article. In addition to the last piece, the publication also claimed that Patel was handing out bourbon bottles with his name, logo, and FBI shield customization to the staff. FBI spokesperson Williamson denied this, too, and claimed that it’s a standard practice in the FBI that dates back to more than a decade. He added it has nothing to do with Patel.
FBI Director Kash Patel ordered polygraph tests for more than two dozen current and former members of his security detail and staff as he reportedly scrambles to identify leaks and protect his position. (MSN) pic.twitter.com/sp158DfuFq
— WarMonitor (@TheWarMonitor) May 7, 2026
Fitzpatrick said, “My response is that I stand by every single word of this report. We were very diligent. We were very careful. It went through multiple levels of editing, review, and care. And I think one of the things that has been most gratifying … immediately after the story was published was [that] I have been inundated by additional sourcing going up to the highest levels of the government, thanking us for doing the work, providing additional corroborating information.”
Democrats and critics have been reacting to this recent development. Some have asked Patel to take an alcohol abuse test. Earlier, Patel was given the name of a frat boy after the Winter Olympics locker room celebration, and now he’s being called J Edgar Boozer on X. One X user posted, “Drinkers get paranoid easily.”
