The Atlantic reported on April 17, 2026, based on interviews with more than two dozen sources including current and former FBI officials, that FBI Director Kash Patel “is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication” in front of White House and administration staff.
The most dramatic allegation: Patel's security detail requested breaching equipment — specialized SWAT tools used to break through fortified doors — because Patel was unreachable behind locked doors. On multiple occasions, detail members had “difficulty waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated.” Early in his tenure, meetings and briefings had to be rescheduled because of “his alcohol-fueled nights.”
Trump personally called Patel after the FBI director was seen chugging beer with the U.S. Olympic hockey team in Milan to express displeasure. Trump, famously sober after his brother's death from alcoholism, was unhappy.
On April 10, Patel reportedly struggled to log into a computer, became convinced he had been fired, and “panicked, frantically calling aides and allies.” FBI officials worry about what happens during a crisis — a terrorist attack, a national security emergency — while the FBI director is compromised. “That's what keeps me up at night,” one official said.
Senior administration officials are “openly discussing” who will be the next FBI director. Patel himself has expressed belief that he is about to be fired.
Patel threatened to sue: “Print it, all false, I'll see you in court — bring your checkbook.” The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick stand by the reporting. The DOJ ethics handbook prohibits employees from “habitually using alcohol or other intoxicants to excess.”
Note: All 24+ sources are anonymous, which Patel's team highlights as a weakness. No outlet has independently confirmed the allegations with on-the-record sources, but no outlet has debunked them either.