A new report compiled by a group of active-duty and retired FBI agents paints an unflattering image of FBI Director Kash Patel and, to a lesser degree, Deputy Director Dan Bongino. The 115-page document, reportedly set to be presented to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees this week, offered a mostly scathing assessment of Patel’s first six months in office.
The New York Post’s Miranda Devine got her hands on the report and published an explosive column late Sunday outlining some of the most “damning” allegations. She noted the Patel-led FBI was described as a “rudderless ship” and the director himself was deemed “in over his head.”
Citing multiple internal FBI sources, the report accused Patel of not having “the breadth of experience needed to be successful.” Another source said the director “lacks the requisite experience to be FBI director.”
Amid speculation about the motive of the sources in the anonymous document, Devine posted on X Monday that “those claiming this report is from a bunch of disgruntled FBI staffers who don’t like change or are salty ex-FBI critics of Kash and Dan” are “wrong.” Instead, she said “it’s from an alliance of patriotic operational insiders opposed to the abuses and corruption of the FBI, which accelerated under Joe Biden.”
Patel Responds, Part I
AM Update spoke exclusively with Director Patel about the report late Monday. He rejected the characterization and dismissed the document as a “dossier compiled by anonymous, disgruntled sources,” whom, he argued, “do not know what they’re talking about.”
Patel scoffed at the notion that the FBI is “rudderless” and noted some of the bureau’s accomplishments since he took charge. Of the almost 30,000 arrests made by the FBI this year (a 100 percent increase from 2024), 25,000 were for violent crimes – including over 100 MS-13 gang members and 200-plus Tren De Aragua members.
Some 6,000 missing children have been found, a 22 percent increase over last year, and 1,700 child predators have been arrested. That figure is up 10 percent year over year. Human trafficking arrests are also up 15 percent from last year.
Domestic terrorism arrests are up 30 percent compared to 2024, and 1,900 kilos of fentanyl have been seized. Megyn noted that is enough to kill 127 million Americans. Additionally, four of the top 10 most-wanted criminals in the U.S. have been nabbed since Patel took the helm, which is the same number President Joe Biden’s FBI arrested over four years.
In short, Director Patel maintained that the numbers speak for themselves and the FBI is succeeding beyond anyone’s expectations.
Patel Responds, Part II
On Tuesday’s edition of The Megyn Kelly Show, Megyn also revealed that Patel responded to allegations in the report about his behavior after Charlie Kirk’s murder. The report claimed Patel refused to disembark his aircraft after arriving in Utah the day after Kirk was assassinated because he did not have the right attire
According to the report, “Patel apparently did not have his own FBI raid jacket with him and refused to step from the plane without wearing one.” FBI special agents at the Salt Lake City field office allegedly “had to stop and ask around to find an FBI raid jacket — a medium-sized one — that would fit.”
The report detailed that once one was borrowed from a female agent and delivered to Patel on the plane, he complained that “two areas on the upper sleeves did not have Velcro patches attached.” Once again, he allegedly would not leave the plane “until he had two patches to cover those areas,” so “members of an FBI SWAT Team took patches off their uniforms and ran those patches over to” the director.
Megyn said she has spoken with Patel and he told her none of that is true. Here is how she explained his rebuttal:
“He says he flew from New York directly out to Utah. He had no proper clothing. He was out to dinner when he learned about Charlie, so he did borrow an FBI jacket. He said the patches piece of the story is also not true. He said a guy who worked one of the special divisions out in Utah actually gave him a patch as, like, a solidarity the way a lot of law enforcement will give you a coin or whatever. He gave it to him because he wanted the FBI director to feel like part of the crew. And Kash, to respect this guy and say, ‘Thanks for giving this to me,’ put it on his arm and got off the plane. He said there was no waiting on the plane to get a jacket. There was no waiting on the plane to get a patch. He said, we ran off the plane; understood Charlie had been murdered; it was a tumultuous time; and that just none of this is true.”
The Reaction
On Tuesday’s show, Megyn was joined by National Review’s Rich Lowry and Charles C.W. Cooke to talk about Patel’s pushback and what could really be behind the smears:
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 1,204 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.