FBI Director Kash Patel has made a habit of culling agents in waves whenever he finds himself under fire, according to a report.
Patel, 46, has spent his first year as the nation’s top law enforcement official careening from scandal to scandal for joyriding on agency jets, misusing taxpayer funds, and botching investigations. Much of the scrutiny Patel has faced is rooted in insider accusations.
MS NOW reports that amid the controversies, a pattern has emerged: Whenever bad press has hit, the FBI director appears to have self-soothed by firing sets of agents.
There are four instances where Patel axed FBI agents and staff in the hours or days following reports that cast doubt about his fitness to lead the FBI, according to MS NOW.
Mike Blake/Reuters
Meanwhile, FBI agents and staff have noticed Patel’s petty routine and are worried that he is putting the agency’s mission at risk in order to quash negative coverage, multiple FBI sources told the outlet.
“The FBI workforce is very intelligent and their job is to put together connected events,” former FBI agent and MS NOW contributor Rob D’Amico said. “They have noticed. They see it for what it is, actions of a selfish and insecure person.”
Last month, Patel came under scrutiny when he was filmed chugging beer and partying with the U.S. men’s hockey team at the Winter Olympics in Italy, where he’d flown on an FBI jet. His spokesperson had described Patel’s visit as a business trip.
Patel received a barrage of unflattering coverage, as well as a scolding from teetotaler President Donald Trump, who told his hand-picked FBI director off for his rowdy partying and use of the taxpayer-funded plane, NBC News reported.
A day after being confronted by the president, Patel terminated 10 FBI employees who had worked on the probe into alleged illegal storage of documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property.
Two more employees were fired the next day. The purge followed revelations that Patel and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles’ phones had been subpoenaed in 2022 and 2023.
Patel’s revenge strike on the FBI wound up decimating the Bureau’s global espionage unit known as CI-12, which focused on threats emanating from Iran in particular.
In another instance, Patel fired Steven Palmer, a 27-year FBI veteran who was tasked with overseeing the bureau’s jet fleet, after reports emerged that Patel had used an FBI jet to go on a date with his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins.
In January, Patel fired at least six agents, also linked to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, a day after former and current FBI employees questioned his leadership in a New York Times report.
“You know he has a trend, when he gets jammed up on something he literally fires people right after,” D’Amico said.
The FBI Agents Association, which represents active and retired agents, has slammed the firings as unjustified and illegal, according to MS NOW.
When reached for comment, the FBI’s press office told the Daily Beast, “While we do not comment on personnel matters, the FBI maintains a robust counterintelligence operation, with personnel all over the country, who delivered record results in 2025 — including a 35% increase in counterintelligence arrests, six of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives captured, and multiple foiled terrorism plots just in December alone. Our teams remain fully engaged across the country and prepared to mobilize any security assets needed to assist federal partners — as well as state and local law enforcement.”
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