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The FBI director, Kash Patel, is “in over his head” and leading a “chronically under-performing” agency paralyzed by fear and plummeting morale, according to a scathing 115-page report compiled by a national alliance of retired and active-duty FBI special agents and analysts.
The leaked assessment, obtained by the New York Post and prepared for both congressional Senate and House judiciary committees, is based on confidential accounts from 24 FBI sources.
They accuse Patel of lacking the experience to lead the FBI and that managers will not take initiative without explicit direction for fear of being fired. Patel’s first six months have produced a “troubling picture” of an organization described by insiders as a “rudderless ship”, with two sources independently characterizing the director as being “in over his head”. One stated he “lacks the requisite knowledge or deep understanding of all the FBI’s unique and complex investigative and intelligence programs”.
One key accusation is that the FBI has become “internally paralyzed by fear”. Managers are “afraid of losing their jobs”, and “waiting on directions from the FBI director” rather than taking initiative, according to multiple sources.
That paralysis stems partly from before his nomination, when Patel publicly accused the FBI of being part of a “deep state” conspiracy against Trump and called for its radical overhaul. He advocated for shutting down the FBI’s Washington headquarters and dispersing employees across the country, and accused the bureau of political weaponization during investigations into Trump.
In response to the report, the White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement: “President Trump has assembled the most talented and impressive administration in history and they are doing an excellent job carrying out the President’s agenda.”
“FBI Director Patel is a critical member of the President’s team and he is working tirelessly to restore integrity to the FBI,” Jackson said.
The assessment comes amid ongoing controversies surrounding Patel’s tenure. Before his February 2025 confirmation, nearly 60 civil rights organizations urged the Senate to reject his nomination because of his lack of experience, foreign ties and misleading statements. Since taking office, he has faced criticism for refusing to release Jeffrey Epstein files and for prematurely announcing an arrest in the Kirk investigation that had to be retracted.
Patel, who served as a House intelligence committee staffer and later held roles in the Trump administration’s first term – including as deputy director of national intelligence – is also the author of pro-Trump children’s books including The Plot Against the King. After Trump lost the 2020 election, Patel became a fixture on rightwing media before Trump won again and catapulted him to lead the FBI.
He has also faced scrutiny over allegations he assigned Swat personnel to protect his girlfriend and used government aircraft for personal travel.
According to the assessment, on 11 September, the day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Patel arrived in Provo, Utah, but refused to leave the FBI jet without an appropriate raid jacket. A described “highly respected” source in the report explained that agents working the Kirk investigation had to stop their work to find a medium-sized jacket for Patel. When a female agent’s jacket was delivered, Patel complained about missing Velcro patches on the sleeves and refused to disembark until Swat team members removed patches from their own uniforms and attached them to the borrowed jacket.
The same source confirmed media reports that Patel “yelled” at the special agent-in-charge and directed “an expletive-laden tirade” over “perceived blunders” in the case. Dan Bongino, the deputy director, later telephoned to apologize, “saying that never should have happened”.
Both Patel and Bongino face criticism for what multiple sources describe as an excessive focus on social media. FBI employees reported hearing more about the bureau’s mission from leadership’s social media posts than through official internal channels.
Bongino, who lacks traditional FBI experience and was granted a Patel-authorized waiver exempting him from standard polygraph screening, is described by one source as “something of a clown”.
In one incident, Patel became upset after learning that FBI personnel at Quantico had discussed his request to be issued an FBI firearm. When details leaked, he ordered polygraph examinations for everyone involved to identify who had criticized him. One respected FBI leader in the assessment called the order “needlessly punitive”.
Not all feedback was negative. Multiple sources welcomed Patel’s rollback of diversity and equity initiatives and praised immigration enforcement operations. Some reported improved prosecutorial support compared to the previous administration. However, while some sources supported firing senior executives deemed responsible for past politicization, they argued reforms “have not gone deep enough”.
The report also notes concerns from countries closely partnered with the United States. Sources in the report indicated that law enforcement and intelligence agencies from allied countries fear the Trump administration “may cause long-term damage to international cooperation”.
The anonymous authors, who requested confidentiality to protect their positions, told the Post their assessment “was never intended to be a hit piece” but acknowledged that “the anecdotal reporting from FBI personnel skewed 80/20 negative”. They concluded by advising Patel and Bongino to heed the criticism.
The White House recently denied media reports that Trump plans to fire Patel.
The congressional judiciary committees named in the report will be receiving a copy of the assessment this week.
