Administration

Watchdog requests Patel calendar, security detail messages

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by Sarah Davis - 04/21/26 3:55 PM ET

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by Sarah Davis - 04/21/26 3:55 PM ET

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A watchdog organization has filed a new request for records pertaining to FBI Director Kash Patel, citing new reports of excessive alcohol use from the intelligence chief.

The request from the Democracy Forward Foundation (DFF) cites The Atlantic’s recent report, “The FBI Director is MIA.”

“If the Director of the FBI is a liability – the American people need to know,” DFF President and CEO Skye Perryman said in a press release on Tuesday.

“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,” Perryman continued. “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.”

The Atlantic article included reports that Patel drank heavily and was fearful about losing his job.

Several FBI and Department of Justice officials told the Atlantic that Patel’s drinking has become a “recurring source of concern across the government.”

These officials also told the outlet that the director’s security detail had “difficulty waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated” and that meetings had to be pushed later in the day after his longer nights of drinking.

Patel has forcefully denied these accusations, and the director filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the Atlantic on Monday.

The DFF is asking the FBI to provide information related to Patel’s schedule and vacation day usage. Additionally, the organization is requesting “all electronic communications” from the director’s security detail about “being unable to reach or wake Director Kash Patel.”

The DFF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by Democratic Party operatives in 2017. The foundation identifies itself as a “nonpartisan, national legal organization” focused on promoting democracy.

Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), members of the public can request access to records from any federal agency. Requests can be denied for purposes of privacy, national security and law enforcement.

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