A bombshell claim, stating that FBI Director Kash Patel will be fired within five weeks, surfaced on Saturday. This comes a day after The Atlantic reported that the 46-year-old was ‘paranoid’ about losing his job and had a ‘freak out’ episode this month. The publication further cited sources and current and ex officials to add that Patel is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication.
‘Freak out’ episode
The Atlantic reported that Patel freaked out after being unable to access his internal computer system this month. He even feared that he had lost his job. However, the issue was fixed soon.
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“People close to the director have said that he himself has expressed that he believes that he is about to be fired or that is imminent,” the author of the articl Sarah Fitzpatrick told CNN on Friday. “This is widely, widely discussed, I think, within Washington, behind closed doors. In fact, there are senior administration officials who are openly discussing who will be the next FBI director.”
‘Has five weeks’
Soon after the report was out, popular commentator Brian Krassenstein tweeted: “Kash Patel will be fired within five weeks. Mark this post.” However, he did not offer any details or explanation.
Kash Patel responds
Meanwhile, Patel pushed back at The Atlantic’s report. “See you and your entire entourage of false reporting in court. But do keep at it with the fake news, actual malice standard is now what some would call a legal lay up,” he posted on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.
“I stand by every word of this reporting,” Fitzpatrick told MS NOW on Friday.
She added that the FBI is not a place where people are eager to leak to the press, so the volume of sourcing in her piece, which relied on more than two dozen interviews, including with current and former FBI officials, suggested real internal alarm about Patel’s leadership of the bureau.
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She noted the claims were especially notable given Patel’s efforts to root out internal dissent, including alleged use of polygraph tests to identify suspected leakers.
In an email shared by Patel, FBI communications official Benjamin Williamson described the article as ‘completely false at a nearly 100 percent clip’ and claimed the bureau had only about two hours to respond before publication.
Patel adviser Erica Knight also criticized the reporting on social media. She wrote that the magazine’s reporting was based on claims that ‘every real DC reporter chased, couldn’t verify, and passed on’.
Meanwhile, Patel’s attorney Jesse Binnall called the story ‘categorically false and defamatory’ and shared a pre-publication letter sent to the outlet.
The letter argued the reporting relied ‘solely on vague, unattributed sourcing’ and did not allow enough time for the FBI to provide relevant information that would disprove its claims.
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