FBI investigating leaks to journalist who wrote explosive article on Kash Patel: Sources
Source: MS NOW
The FBI has launched a criminal leak investigation focusing on an Atlantic magazine journalist who wrote a deeply unflattering account last month of Director Kash Patel's work habits, two people familiar with the matter told MS NOW.
The sources said the so-called insider threat investigation is highly unusual because it did not stem from a disclosure of classified information and because it is focused on leaks to a reporter. The agents involved are part of an insider threats unit based in Huntsville, Alabama, the sources added.
Typically, leak investigations look into government officials who may have disclosed state secrets or classified documents. Journalists who receive and publish such information have typically only been involved as potential witnesses.
The journalist, Sarah Fitzpatrick, cited two dozen anonymous sources in a detailed story reporting that Patel's alcohol consumption and erratic behavior had caused deep concern among FBI officials. Patel was known to drink to the point of intoxication, she reported, adding that on occasion his security detail had trouble waking him in the morning.....
The FBI also launched an internal inquiry after former NBC News contributor Frank Figliuzzi made comments about Patel's alleged socializing and work habits last year on "Morning Joe," two sources familiar with the matter told MS NOW. Patel's lawsuit against Figliuzzi has been thrown out by a judge who ruled his comments amounted to hyperbole.
Read more: https://www.ms.now/news/fbi-investigating-leaks-to-journalist-who-wrote-explosive-article-on-kash-patel-sources
MS NOW EXCLUSIVE:Â FBI investigating leaks to journalist who wrote explosive article on Kash Patel: Sources
— MS NOW (@ms.now) 2026-05-06T14:08:26.538Z
= new reply since forum marked as read
The FBI director has been leaving an unusual calling card.
Link to tweet
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/05/kash-patel-fbi-bourbon/687066/?gift=7iIl9n2G7V_Mcgcizbr5eeJvcCruqoxpDctS4PLKNcc
After my story appeared, I heard from people in Patel’s orbit and people he has met at public functions, who told me that it is not unusual for him to travel with a supply of personalized branded bourbon. The bottles bear the imprint of the Kentucky distillery Woodford Reserve, and are engraved with the words “Kash Patel FBI Director,” as well as a rendering of an FBI shield. Surrounding the shield is a band of text featuring Patel’s director title and his favored spelling of his first name: Ka$h. An eagle holds the shield in its talons, along with the number 9, presumably a reference to Patel’s place in the history of FBI directors. In some cases, the 750-milliliter bottles bear Patel’s signature, with “#9” there as well. One such bottle popped up on an online auction site shortly after my story appeared, and The Atlantic later purchased it. (The person who sold it to us did not want to be named, but said that the bottle was a gift from Patel at an event in Las Vegas.)
Patel has given out bottles of his personalized whiskey to FBI staff as well as civilians he encounters in his duties, according to eight people, including current and former FBI and Department of Justice employees and others who are familiar with Patel’s distribution of the bottles. Most of them spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
Patel has distributed his self-branded bottles while on official business, including during at least one FBI event. He and his team have transported the whiskey using a DOJ plane, including when he went to Milan during the Olympics in February. One of the bottles was left behind in a locker room, according to a person who was there. (I reviewed a photograph of the bottle.) On the same trip, Patel was filmed drinking beer with the gold-medal-winning U.S. men’s hockey team—behavior that officials have said did not sit well with the teetotaling president. Patel defended himself at the time, saying he was just celebrating with his “friends” on the hockey team. Patel’s use of DOJ aircraft to transport cases of alcohol has been the subject of discussion among FBI staff.
The FBI did not dispute that Patel gives out bottles of whiskey inscribed with his name, but in response to a detailed list of questions, a spokesperson portrayed the gifts as routine within the FBI and the broader government. He added that “the bottles in question are part of a tradition in the FBI that started well over a decade ago, long before Director Patel arrived. Senior Bureau officials have long exchanged commemorative items in formal gift settings consistent with ethics rules. Director Patel has followed all applicable ethical guidelines and pays for any personal gift himself.”.....
Patel’s enthusiasm for self-branded merchandise is also well documented. “He is known as being very merch forward,” one DOJ employee told me. Even before he was confirmed as FBI director, Patel sent out Ka$h-branded merch boxes that included hats, socks, and other items depicting the comic-book character the Punisher, one person who received such a box told me. As my colleague Elaina Plott Calabro reported in 2024, before Patel became FBI director, he previously sold “Justice for All” #J6PC tees in honor of those arrested for their actions on January 6, 2021. (That item is no longer available from the Kash Foundation, which was founded by Patel but is now, according to its website, “an independent nonprofit, not endorsed by, associated with, or influenced by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice, or any government agency.”)
Patel is pissed which may explain the FBI opening an investigation into Sarah Fitzpatrick
