FBI Director Kash Patel is under fire from a coalition of active-duty and retired agents and analysts who have issued a scathing assessment of his first six months leading the bureau.
The criticism comes just days after the White House denied reports that President Trump plans to remove him from his position.
A newly released 115-page report describes Patel as “in over his head” and characterizes his deputy, Dan Bongino, as “something of a clown.”
The alliance behind the report previously issued warnings about DEI policies and politicization during the Biden administration.
Multiple internal sources describe the FBI under Patel’s leadership as a “rudderless ship” and “all f–ked up.”
These assessments come from within the bureau’s own ranks, painting a picture of an agency struggling under inexperienced leadership.
One source stated that Patel “has neither the breadth of experience nor the bearing an FBI director needs to be successful.”
Another source, who identifies as a Trump supporter, called Patel “not very good” and suggested he “may be insecure.”
The same Trump-supporting source added that Patel “lacks the requisite experience” and the “measured self-confidence” necessary for the position.
Despite these harsh criticisms, one source did describe him as “very personable and likable” while noting he “created a culture of mistrust and uncertainty among the ranks.”
Much of the criticism centers on Patel’s conduct following the assassination of Charlie Kirk in Salt Lake City.
Sources accuse him of making “premature public remarks” that could have compromised the investigation and taking credit for work performed by other agencies when the suspect was apprehended.
Additionally, Patel allegedly yelled and used profanity when confronting the agent in charge of the case. Both Patel and Bongino face accusations of “arrogance” and displaying an “unfortunate obsession with social media.”
One source urged them to “stop talking, stop posing, and just be professional.”
Another criticized the pair for “spending too much time on social media and public relations” and being “too often concerned with building their own personal résumés.”
The report was structured like an official FBI intelligence assessment and drew from 24 FBI sources and sub-sources.
It uses specific incidents to highlight broader concerns about leadership at the bureau.
One revealing anecdote involves what the report calls “the medium-sized raid jacket” incident.
On September 11, 2025, the day after Kirk’s assassination, Patel arrived in Provo, Utah, on the FBI jet but refused to exit the aircraft without wearing an FBI raid jacket.
According to ALPHA 99, a highly respected source with decades of FBI service, Patel did not bring his own jacket and would not leave the plane without one.
Agents working the Kirk case had to stop their duties to locate a medium-sized jacket that would fit him.
When a female agent’s jacket was delivered to Patel on the plane, he complained about two areas on the sleeves lacking Velcro patches.
Members of an FBI SWAT team removed patches from their own uniforms and rushed them to Patel at the airport so they could be attached to the borrowed jacket before he would exit the plane.
ALPHA 99 stated that Patel “did not make a positive impression” during this visit.
The director was reportedly unhappy with the investigation’s progress and had earlier yelled at Special Agent-in-Charge Robert Bohls, directing an “expletive-laden tirade” over “perceived blunders” in the case.
Bongino later telephoned Bohls to apologize for Patel’s outburst, “saying that never should have happened,” according to the source.
ALPHA 99 also criticized Patel for breaking with FBI tradition by claiming credit for successful work performed by other agencies in the Kirk investigation.
In a separate incident at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, Patel became upset after learning about internal discussions regarding his request to be issued an FBI firearm.
When details of these conversations were leaked, Patel ordered polygraph examinations for everyone involved to identify who had criticized him.
ALPHA 95, described as “a highly respected leader [and] person of integrity,” expressed dismay at the punitive nature of these ordered polygraph tests.
The report does acknowledge ongoing resistance to Patel from within, noting that “Trump Derangement Syndrome” persists among “left-leaning factions embedded within the ranks of the FBI.”
FBI personnel reportedly “openly express disdain” for the president, with one source blaming past recruitment policies that prioritized hiring teachers “who were more ‘left’ leaning in their personal views.”
Televisions in FBI field offices are said to be tuned to MSNBC and CNN rather than Fox News.
