Overview
- Patel responded to The Atlantic’s story by saying, “Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court — bring your checkbook,” according to a statement sent via the FBI to the magazine.
- The Atlantic, as relayed by Mediaite, reported Patel believed he had been fired after he could not access an internal FBI system and then called aides and allies, which led FBI staff and members of Congress to ask the White House who was running the 38,000-person agency.
- He remains the FBI director, though reporting says he worries about his job security after being named as a possible official on the chopping block.
- The reporting also alleges repeated public intoxication at venues in Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas, and says his security detail struggled to wake him and once sought breaching tools to reach him behind locked doors.
- A video showed Patel chugging a beer in the U.S. men’s hockey locker room after the Olympic gold medal game, and reporting says President Donald Trump was unhappy with it, adding to concerns about his conduct and judgment.