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President Trump continues to insist that FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino are doing a “great job” and has privately told allies there are no plans to remove them.
But a blistering new 115-page report from a bipartisan group of active and retired FBI agents and analysts paints a far different picture, calling the bureau a "rudderless ship" that is "all f–ked up" under the current leadership.
The assessment, styled as an official intelligence product and based on interviews with 24 sources inside the FBI, concludes that Patel is "in over his head" and lacks "the breadth of experience nor the bearing an FBI director needs to be successful."
One self-described Trump supporter told researchers that Patel "is not very good," "may be insecure," and lacks "the measured self-confidence" for the role.
Deputy Director Bongino is dismissed by multiple sources as "something of a clown."
In a separate development that has intensified the backlash against Patel, the FBI has assigned an unprecedented full-time security detail—complete with agents and vehicles—to protect his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, with taxpayers footing the entire bill.
Sources familiar with the arrangement say the protective detail is larger and more permanent than those provided to most former presidents or cabinet secretaries.
Meanwhile, Wilkins has filed a defamation lawsuit against several conservative podcasters, including Rift TV CEO Elijah Schaffer, for "insinuating" she is a Mossad honeypot.
READ THE FULL REPORT HERE.
The optics of the taxpayer-funded protection and the lawsuit have fueled widespread public anger toward Patel, compounding criticism of his handling of high-profile investigations, including the still-unresolved Jeffrey Epstein client list, the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and the July 2024 attempted assassination of President Trump by Thomas Crooks.
The report also accuses both Patel and Bongino of "arrogance" and an "unfortunate obsession with social media," with one source saying the pair need to "stop talking, stop posing, and just be professional."
Another complained they are "spending too much time on social media and public relations" while "too often concerned with building their own personal résumés."
Despite the harsh verdict, the report acknowledges some positives: agents overwhelmingly praise Patel’s rollback of DEI policies and the refocus on core casework and national-security threats.
As the scathing assessment heads to Capitol Hill this week for briefings to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, the White House continues to signal full confidence in Patel and Bongino, even as a growing chorus inside the FBI warns the bureau is adrift under their leadership.
