New report claims FBI director threatened agents with polygraphs over missing bourbon

The controversy surrounding Kash Patel's alleged drinking problems heated up this week after a new report levelled fresh allegations against the FBI director, including claims that he threatened subordinates with polygraph tests over a missing bottle of personalized bourbon.

The report by The Atlantic's Sarah Fitzgerald comes after a $250 million defamation lawsuit the FBI Director filed over her previous article questioning Patel's conduct in office. The new report claims that Patel often travels with Kentucky distillery Woodford Reserve, engraved with the words "Kash Patel FBI Director," and an FBI shield, which he gifts to officials as well as civilians. The Atlantic purchased one such bottle at an online auction. 

While the FBI told The Atlantic that distributing such bottles did not violate "applicable ethical guidelines" and that he "pays for any personal gift himself," Fitzgerald wrote that when she contacted a former senior FBI official to ask if he had ever seen personally branded liquor bottles distributed by previous directors, "he burst out laughing." Fitzgerald also mentioned in her report that several federal officials have expressed concerns about Patel's personal-branded liquor bottles. 

However, the report's most contentious accusation against the FBI director is an alleged incident that took place in March during a training seminar at the FBI's Quantico. Sources told the publication that when a bottle of Patel's signature bourbon, engraved with the FBI shield and his name, went missing, the FBI Director's reaction was explosive. 

"He lost his mind," one official familiar with the matter stated in the report. Kurt Siuzdak, a retired agent who has assisted FBI agents, told the publication that many agents reached out to him for legal guidance after Patel began threatening to polygraph and prosecute his staff over the missing bottle. "It turned into a shitshow," Siuzdak was quoted as saying. "Handing out bottles of liquor at the premier law-enforcement agency—it makes me frightened for the country," George Hill, a former FBI supervisory intelligence analyst, told The Atlantic. "Standards apply to everything and everyone, especially the boss."

FBI reportedly probing leaks to Atlantic journalist

Beyond the internal friction at Quantico and the lawsuit against The Atlantic and Fitzgerald, the controversy may take a sharp turn toward constitutional concerns. Reports have surfaced that the FBI has opened a "highly unusual" criminal leak investigation into the sources who spoke with Fitzgerald. While the Department of Justice has officially denied that the journalist herself is a target, press freedom advocates are sounding the alarm.

"If confirmed to be true, an FBI criminal leak investigation targeting our reporter would represent an outrageous attack on the free press and the First Amendment itself," The Atlantic's editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, said in a statement. "We will defend The Atlantic and its staff vigorously; we will not be intimidated by illegitimate investigations or other acts of politically motivated retaliation; we will continue to cover the FBI professionally, fairly, and thoroughly; and we will continue to practice journalism in the public interest."