The Federal Bureau of Investigation is facing a storm of criticism and internal dissent under the leadership of Director Kash Patel, according to a scathing report compiled by 24 active-duty and retired agents. The report, obtained by several media outlets including the New York Post and The Independent, paints a troubling picture of an agency adrift, mired in low morale, and beset by questions over leadership and direction just six months into Patel’s tenure.
Described as a “rudderless ship” and led by a director who is “in over his head,” the FBI’s internal woes have spilled into public view at a time when the agency’s credibility and effectiveness are under intense national scrutiny. The report is slated to be presented to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees later this week, raising the stakes for Patel, his deputies, and the broader leadership of one of America’s most powerful law enforcement agencies.
The criticisms leveled at Patel are both personal and institutional. According to the agents, some of whom have served for multiple decades, Patel “has neither the breadth of experience nor the bearing an FBI director needs to be successful.” The report goes on to assert that the agency is “chronically underperforming,” with “low confidence in FBI Leadership based on a lack of prior experience.” One agent referred to the current leadership as the “Kash-Bongino circus,” a pointed jab not only at Patel but also at his deputy, Dan Bongino, who was described as “something of a clown.”
Patel’s first six months in office have been marked by controversy, including allegations of using government aircraft for personal trips and assigning a SWAT team to protect his girlfriend. These decisions have reportedly fueled internal frustration and contributed to what one agent called “paralyzing leadership at all levels.” The report also documents Patel’s tendency to make “premature public remarks” during active investigations, a habit that has unsettled many within the bureau. This included comments made in the immediate aftermath of the high-profile assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
One particularly telling anecdote from the report details an incident following Kirk’s fatal shooting in Provo, Utah. Upon landing, Patel allegedly refused to disembark from his plane because he did not have his own FBI raid jacket. According to an agent identified as ALPHA 99, “FBI Director Kash Patel refused to step down from the plane without wearing one.” The scramble to find a jacket that fit Patel—a medium-sized one belonging to a female special agent was eventually located—culminated in two SWAT team members removing velcro patches from their own uniforms to satisfy Patel’s requirements. Only then did he emerge from the aircraft. The episode, while somewhat farcical, has come to symbolize for many agents the disconnect between Patel’s leadership style and the operational realities of the bureau.
Deputy Director Dan Bongino, for his part, has dismissed the criticism as “gossipy nonsense.” In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Bongino claimed, “A LOT of people are very upset at the changes and reforms we’ve made at the FBI. They will do anything to revert to the old ways of doing things. So they leak gossipy nonsense to media outlets and ‘journalists’ with a clear agenda, and they ignore the historic results and the significant reforms we instituted.” Bongino’s defense underscores a broader tension between the new leadership’s push for reform and the resistance it has encountered from within.
Beyond leadership style, the report singles out the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files as a source of “significant” reputational damage to the FBI. A special agent with over 20 years of service, identified as ALPHA 52, criticized both Attorney General Pam Bondi and the bureau for “badly handling” the release of the files. The Justice Department and the FBI had released a joint memo in July, drawing a line under the Epstein investigation and announcing that no further documents would be released. According to the report, some agents were pulled off other casework for a week to redact Epstein-related documents, only for the decision to release them to be reversed at the last minute by President Trump and Bondi. The result, the agent argued, was confusion and lasting harm to the agency’s reputation.
Patel’s defenders, however, insist that the criticism is overblown and motivated by resistance to change. One unnamed source in the report described Patel as “very personable and likeable,” but conceded that he “has created a culture of mistrust and uncertainty among the ranks.” The White House has also pushed back forcefully against rumors of Patel’s impending dismissal. After MSNOW reported that co-deputy FBI Director Andrew Bailey was being considered as a replacement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt took to X to call the story “completely made up.” Leavitt recounted reading the headline to President Trump, who reportedly laughed and said, “What? That’s totally false. Come on Kash, let’s take a picture to show them you’re doing a great job!” Leavitt posted a photo of herself and Patel smiling and giving a thumbs up to drive the point home.
All of this comes at a pivotal moment for the FBI, which is simultaneously grappling with external political pressures and internal divisions. The agency’s ability to function effectively depends, in no small part, on the confidence and cohesion of its workforce. The report’s findings suggest that, for now at least, both are in short supply.
While the House and Senate Judiciary Committees prepare to weigh the report’s findings, the wider public is left to wonder about the future direction of the bureau. Will Patel and Bongino’s reforms ultimately bear fruit, or will the resistance from within prove too great to overcome? The coming weeks are likely to bring more clarity—and, if the report’s authors are correct, perhaps more turbulence for the FBI.
For now, the nation’s premier law enforcement agency finds itself at a crossroads, its leadership under fire and its rank-and-file questioning the path ahead.
