Based on new reporting from The Intercept, Kash Patel looks like he was an out-of-control drinker even in his youth. “Patel was twice arrested in incidents involving alcohol, once for public intoxication and once for public urination after leaving a bar, he admitted in a 2005 letter about disclosures on his Florida Bar application,” The Intercept reported on Friday.
One incident occurred in 2005, a few months before his letter. He and some friends “went to a few of the local bars and consumed some alcoholic drinks,” the letter states. “In a gross deviation from appropriate conduct, we attempted to relieve our bladders while walking home.” Before they “could even do so,” Patel said, a police cruiser caught them and arrested them for public urination. The result was a fine, Patel said he paid.
The prior incident was in 2001. Patel wrote that he was at a basketball game when he was escorted out of the arena for “excessive” cheering, then later arrested for public intoxication, “as I was not yet of 21 years of age.” Patel added, “I had consumed two drinks prior to the game.” There was no mention as to whether he had drunk anything during it. The result was also a fine, Patel said he paid.
“Both of these incidents are not representative of my usual conduct of behavior,” Patel wrote, suggesting he needed a refresher course in grammar as well as responsible drinking. Also, “not representative of my usual conduct of behavior” is not the same as “not representative of my usual behavior.” But I digress.
The incidents might have been easily dismissed as youthful mischief were it not for the very serious allegations laid out recently in The Atlantic. Author Sarah Fitzpatrick had multiple sources for her reporting that indicated excessive drinking very much represented Patel’s usual behavior. Since publishing the story and getting sued for defamation by Patel, Fitzpatrick said she has been “inundated” with more sources corroborating her reporting.
Also, back in the news this week was the dismissal of another Kash Patel defamation suit, this one against former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence Frank Figliuzzi. Patel’s drinking was not specifically mentioned, but it was clearly implied as a factor in his dereliction of duty. On MSNBC, Figliuzzi said about Patel, “Reportedly, he’s been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building. And there are reports that daily briefings to him have been changed from every day to maybe twice weekly.”
The judge ruled that Figliuzzi had obviously engaged in “rhetorical hyperbole” that a “person of reasonable intelligence and learning” would not have taken literally.
That is, unless you’re Patel and unreasonably triggered by reports of excessive drinking.
How much more evidence do we need that Kash Patel is unfit to be FBI director and must be gone from the job ASAP?