Boozy FBI Director Kash Patel is reportedly handing out personalized FBI swag to both staff and civilians as a type of calling card, according to The Atlantic reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick, who is being sued by Patel for defamation after she reported Patel has “alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”
Those in Patel’s orbit say he regularly travels with a supply of bourbon from the Kentucky distillery Woodford Reserve. Those bottles are engraved with the words “Kash Patel FBI Director,” as well as a rendering of an FBI shield. Surrounding the shield is a band of text featuring Patel’s director title and his favored spelling of his first name: Ka$h. An eagle holds the shield in its talons, along with the number 9, presumably a reference to Patel’s place in the history of FBI directors.
Patel has a great affinity for merchandising personalized swag, still selling items from a website he co-founded that includes beanies ($35), T-shirts ($35), orange camo hoodies ($65), trucker caps ($25), “government gangsters” playing cards (on sale for $10), and a Fight With Kash Punisher scarf ($25).
Patel is handing out those personalized bourbon bottles to FBI staff, as well as civilians he encounters on the job, according to eight people, speaking anonymously for fear of retribution, which includes current and former FBI and DOJ employees.
Team Patel transports the bourbon on a government airplane, including to the Olympic events in Milan where Ka$h was seen slamming brewskis with the US hockey team.
The FBI is not disputing the story of the personalized bourbon gifts, but the FBI spokesperson also claimed such gifts are routine within the FBI and other government agents.
“Director Patel has followed all applicable ethical guidelines and pays for any personal gift himself.”
Telegraph, Daily Beast, The Atlantic