FBI director Kashyap ‘Kash’ Patel, one of the main faces of Donald Trump’s administration, is apparently paranoid that he may be on the verge of losing his job as the head of America’s top probe agency. A report in The Atlantic outlines Patel’s “excessive drinking” as one of the reasons for him to believe that he may be fired from the job.
“We’re all just waiting for the word” that Patel is officially out of the top job, an unnamed FBI official was quoted as saying in the report, which claims to have spoken to more than two dozen people about Kash Patel’s conduct.
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Patel’s conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences have been attributed as part of the problem in his conduct by people known to him, thereport said.
Tech error and a major panic
On April 10, Patel almost believed that he had been ousted from his job as he reportedly couldn’t log into an internal computer system. He made frantic calls to his aides and allies to announce that he had been fired by the White House, The Atlantic reported, citing nine people familiar with the incident.
Gossip spiralled as he dialed several people to say that he was fired, only to be found that it was because of a technical error that he couldn’t log into his system.
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However, there have been reports that talks are on within the Trump administration for Patel’s replacement. Patel has been described as “erratic, suspicious of others, and prone to jumping to conclusions before he has necessary evidence”.
Drinking problem, locked doors
Patel’s drinking has been a constant cause of concern across the government, according to several FBI officials.
He is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication, in many cases at the private club Ned’s in Washington, DC, while in the presence of White House and other administration staff, the report added. His drinking spree on weekends continue at the Poodle Room, in Las Vegas. This has resulted in meetings having to be rescheduled, it added.
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On several occasions last year, Patel’s security detail members had difficulty waking him apparently because he was so intoxicated, according Justice Department and White House officials. On one occasion, a request for “breaching equipment” was made, because Patel had been unreachable and wouldn’t open the door. A breaching-equipment request is usually made in hostage situations to gain access to a building or room.
His tenure has also been dubbed as “management failure” and his personal behavior as a “national-security vulnerability”.
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However, White House has credited Patel with controlling the crime rate in the US.
Under Trump and Patel, crime across the country has plummeted to the lowest level in more than 100 years and many high profile criminals have been put behind bars, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt was recently quoted as saying.
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