Washington, D.C. — Democracy Forward filed three Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) today, seeking records related to troubling reports from The Atlantic about FBI Director Kash Patel’s conduct, including allegations about alcohol intoxication and related absences. The reports raise concerns about Director Patel’s actions, and the requests seek records to help clarify whether those concerns have affected his ability to lead one of the nation’s most critical law enforcement agencies, as well as the FBI’s operations or the use of taxpayer resources.
“If the Director of the FBI is a liability – the American people need to know. News reports, including from The Atlantic, suggest that his levels of drinking and absentee leadership are not just unacceptable, but also a threat to the integrity of one of the most important law enforcement agencies in the country,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “If true, this is not a minor lapse in judgment or a personal issue to brush aside; this goes to whether the FBI is being led with the discipline, reliability, and seriousness the job demands. If leadership failures are putting agency operations, public safety, or taxpayer resources at risk, that is a crisis, and it demands immediate scrutiny.”
Democracy Forward’s requests seek calendars and scheduling records, information on personal-day usage, communications among FBI officials – including members of Director Patel’s security detail – and records of incidents in which officials allegedly were unable to reach or wake the Director due to alcohol intoxication.
The requests also seek records regarding the use of breaching equipment by the Director’s security detail, as well as communications conducted on both official and personal devices, including messaging platforms such as Signal and WhatsApp.
Read the requests here.
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