FBI Director Kash Patel has ordered up a classified internal report examining what the bureau calls past institutional “failures,” a document now bearing his own name that insiders worry is less about accountability and more about shaping the bureau’s history to suit the president’s narrative.
An internal FBI memo obtained by MS NOW describes the so-called “Patel Report” as an effort to “promote fierce organizational accountability and rebuilding public trust” by revisiting “different chapters” in the bureau’s past.
Three current and former FBI officials, speaking anonymously to discuss internal matters, told MS NOW they don’t yet know the report’s specific contents, but expect it to touch on politically charged territory for Trump, including the original Russia investigation and the special counsel probes into classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Several unresolved questions are fueling skepticism among those sources: nobody’s clear on who decided which episodes made the cut, who actually drafted and vetted the findings, what standard of proof was applied, or whether any outside check, from DOJ’s inspector general to the bureau’s own career attorneys, got a real opportunity to push back on its conclusions before it was finalized. The fact that the whole thing is classified makes answering any of those questions, or contesting the report at all, considerably harder for anyone outside the bureau’s leadership.
A separate memo to the workforce, signed by FBI co-deputy directors Christopher Raia and Andrew Bailey, framed the report as “the closing of one chapter in our history and the beginning of another complete with a brighter future ahead.” Bailey announced his resignation earlier in the week, with his final day falling the same day the report was distributed.
The move fits a broader pattern for Patel, who has repeatedly criticized his predecessors and pushed to remove agents he views as having politicized the bureau, even though critics argue his own tenure has done exactly that. Despite pledging during his confirmation hearing that he wouldn’t look “backward,” Patel has since encouraged investigations into former senior officials and overseen waves of firings, including employees tied to past Trump investigations, agents photographed taking a knee during 2020 protests, and staff involved in a disputed internal memo on religious extremism.
A report in The Atlantic earlier this year alleged Patel has been frequently drinking on the job and living in a constant state of paranoia about being fired. Patel has denied this, and filed a lawsuit against the publication.
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