'Confirmed my worst fears': Dick Durbin calls for immediate replacement of FBI chief Kash Patel

Following a bombshell report accusing FBI Director Kash Patel of excessive drinking and unexplained absences from his office, Senator Dick Durbin on Monday called for his immediate replacement, citing concern for national security. Speaking on the Senate floor, Durbin said he believed Patel was unfit for office since the day he was appointed, and now, The Atlantic report, he said, had confirmed his "worst fears" about Patel's "integrity and competency."

An article published Friday evening cites over two dozen people, including current and former FBI officials, who alleged Patel has had several episodes of "freak-outs" and unexplained absenteeism due to excessive drinking. The report added that Patel exhibited erratic behavior in office, jeopardizing the operations of the agency, which has about 38,000 employees. While advocating reforms to FISA Section 702, Durbin took some time to speak on the recent allegations levelled on the FBI Director. While Patel has refuted all the claims and filed a defamation lawsuit against the publication, Durbin said he had his doubts way before the report came out. "When Kash Patel was confirmed as head of the FBI, I said that he had neither the experience, the judgment, nor the temperament for the job," the Senator from Illinois said. 

Durbin claimed that Patel has weaponized the FBI, the world's preeminent investigative agency, to serve the "political interests" of just one person, Donald Trump. He claimed the FBI director fired dozens of career law enforcement agents because they were working on cases against the President. He claimed that Patel timed the political purges to hide allegations of misconduct and whistleblower disclosures of misuse of FBI resources. Durbin cited The Atlantic report, claiming FBI officials are worried that Patel has become a national security risk. "Director Patel should be replaced immediately. Our country's safety is too important to be left in the hands of an unqualified and undependable individual who is loyal only to the President and not to the people of this nation," Durbin said. 

The lawmaker further alleged that Patel had fired key members of the FBI's global counterintelligence squad and undermined the agency's ability to counter Iranian threats, "all to distract from his own failings." Durbin added that such accusations against any government official would be concerning, but since Patel is "principally responsible" for the safety of the nation, they are "downright disqualifying." 

Days after the report was published, Patel sued The Atlantic, calling the report false. In a post on X last week, Patel addressed the outlet and the author of the report, threatening to see them and their entire entourage of "false reporting" in court. 

On Monday, Patel followed through on his threat and filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit, accusing the magazine of "publishing an article replete with false and obviously fabricated allegations designed to destroy Director Patel's reputation and drive him from office," according to TIME.