(Photo credit: Francis Chung for POLITICO and AP)
A scathing report from a number of current and former federal agents has attacked the FBI under the director Kash Patel and deputy director Dan Bonginosaying it was a “circus” and “totally wretched” under their management.
The 115-page report, first reported by The New York Post’s Miranda Devine on Monday, was from the National Alliance of Retired and Active FBI Special Agents and Analysts. She paints a damning picture of the office under Patel, who is branded as someone “insecure”, lacking “self-confidence” and unfit for the role. Bongino, meanwhile, is described as a “clown”.
These current and former agents recently shared the “pulse check” report with the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by the senator. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Here are six of the most brutal, wild and funny commercials:
1. Patel “refused” to leave a plane until someone found him a medium-sized FBI jacket belonging to a female agent
The director, according to an unnamed agent, “refused” to leave a plane that had landed in Utah following his killing Charlie Kirkuntil someone gave him a medium-sized FBI jacket. The agent said there were plenty of large and extra large jackets available, but Patel insisted on a medium-sized jacket – which sent agents scrambling to find him one while they were “busy working” on set. Finally, a female FBI special agent gave him a jacket that suited his requirements.
Patel then refused to leave the plane again after noticing that he was missing some Velcro patches he wanted. Several members of the nearby FBI Swat team found the patches he wanted, drove them to the airport, and Patel eventually left the plane.
2. FBI agents ‘laughed’ at Patel for ordering pronouns and messages removed from email signatures – even though his email signature contained his own message
Another unnamed agent said several agents “laughed at what was perceived as hypocrisy” from Patel after he sent an email to agents in August telling them to remove all pronouns and special messages from their email signatures.
Agents taunted him because Patel didn’t follow his own orders—his email signature included “#9,” which FBI personnel interpreted as Patel pointing out that he was the bureau’s 9th director.
3. Patel’s FBI is infected by a “culture of mistrust and uncertainty”
The office is “crippled” by a lack of confidence in leadership and a general sense of “distrust and uncertainty,” multiple anonymous sources said in the report. That mistrust, one agent said, was exacerbated by Patel’s criticism of the FBI before he took over.
Agents are “afraid of losing their jobs, and they make operational decisions based on that fear,” one agent said.
Another unnamed agent said “everyone … is on pins and needles about what to do next, who will be fired and who will be reassigned for unspecified reasons.”
4. The feds are fed up with Patel and Bongino’s ‘obsession’ with social media
A number of feds said they were fed up with the “frequent use of social media” by both Patel and Bongino. One agent lamented that he often learns about FBI news first on social media rather than through internal communication, and another criticized both leaders, saying they are “too often preoccupied with building [their own] Personal CVs” by X.
5. Patel ordered agents to take a polygraph test after discussing whether he should be released an FBI firearm
Patel was “upset” after hearing that several dozen FBI agents had discussed his request for an FBI firearm. Those agents had mixed opinions on the matter — some agreed they should have one, some didn’t, and some were “indifferent,” according to one source.
The director, after being “cut short” on the discussion, ordered those agents “to submit to polygraph examinations to determine their involvement in the discussion and any actions they may have taken after the discussion occurred.” The unnamed agent described it as “punitive”; the report does not mention what came out of the polygraph tests.
6. Bongino disgusted the agents when he declared “Truth is for fools”
Several FBI agents were “shocked” when Bongino told staff at an FBI office in the West that “Truth is for fools.” It’s unclear what the context of the statement was, but one agent was “offended” and “appalled” by the comment, while others said they were taken aback by it.
You can read about several other notables — including agents who believe the FBI is full of employees suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and agents upset about having to assist ICE — by reading the full report here.
The post The 6 craziest revelations from the scathing report on Kash Patel – including his refusal to leave the plane until he was given a female agent’s jacket appeared first on Mediaite.