Is Kash Patel facing the push?

The article last week by Atlantic staffer Sarah Fitzpatrick claimed that “some of Patel’s colleagues at the FBI worry that his personal behavior has become a threat to public safety” and detailed apparently well-sourced (and, indeed, sauced) sojourns at fleshpots including Washington, DC private club Ned’s and “the Poodle Room, in Las Vegas, where he frequently spends parts of his weekends”.

Patel immediately launched the massive lawsuit with a press conference in which, asked to say unequivocally if he had never been tipsy at work, answered,“I can say unequivocally that I never listen to the fake news mafia”. He also described himself as “an everyday American who loves his country, loves the sport of hockey”, while acting attorney general Todd Blanche, appearing alongside him, insisted the report was entirely false while simultaneously saying he “absolutely did not” read it.

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Now, a top White House official has told POLITICO’S Washington Playbook newsletter that “It’s only a matter of time” until Patel gets the heave-ho from Trump, with the slew of negative news about the director “not a good look for a Cabinet secretary”. 

Given that Trump has already fired attorney general Pam Bondi, homeland security secretary Kristi Noem and labour chief Lori Chavez-DeRemer in a purge ahead of the all-important November midterms, it’s probably not the best time, then, for more negative news to emerge about Patel.

So this weekend the left wing news website The Intercept reported that Patel was twice arrested in incidents involving alcohol, once for public intoxication and once for public urination after leaving a bar. The news emerged in a leaked letter in Patel’s personnel file at the Miami-Dade public defender’s office, where he once worked. Trump, who does not like underlings taking the piss, is unlikely to be amused.