FBI’s Patel launches unsubtle scramble to please Trump and avoid getting fired

Throughout Kash Patel’s tenure as FBI director, the former podcast personality has meandered from one self-imposed controversy to another, but the last couple of weeks have been especially brutal.

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The Atlantic, for example, published a rather devastating report alleging that FBI personnel have expressed concerns about the director’s unexplained absences and excessive drinking, which have alarmed colleagues and potentially created a security risk. Patel denied the allegations, accused The Atlantic of being part of an elaborate journalistic conspiracy he equated with organized crime, and filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the magazine on Monday. None of that stopped congressional Democrats from seizing on the allegations to demand he submit to alcohol abuse screening.

Around the same time, Patel lost a defamation case against ex-MSNBC analyst and columnist Frank Figliuzzi, a former assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI. Patel also faced a separate controversy after the bureau investigated a New York Times reporter for writing an article Patel didn’t like.

There’s been lingering scuttlebutt for months about the thin ice under the director’s feet, and the latest round of headlines only intensified the chatter. Indeed, on midday Saturday, Politico reported that things “aren’t looking great” for Patel, adding that he appeared likely to be the next high-ranking official to exit the administration. This dovetailed with related observations about just how little the White House was doing to defend Patel, or even to say his name out loud.

Consider what we’ve seen from the FBI director since that Politico report: