A former FBI agent and now conservative podcaster is apparently driving FBI Director Kash Patel nuts.
Kyle Seraphin has been a constant critic of Patel in his social media posts, questioning his leadership of the agency, calling out his social media behavior as “really thirsty and desperate" and questioning the promotion of agent Steven Jensen to lead the Washington field office, according to a report from The Bulwark on Thursday. Jensen was reportedly involved in the agency's January 6th investigations.
"It apparently irritated Patel to no end," The Bulwark reports. "According to Jensen, Patel suggested that Jensen sue Seraphin for defamation and even recommended some lawyers."
Patel apparently told Jensen that a defamation lawsuit could take some heat off of Patel, but Jensen declined to pursue legal action. He says he is “unconcerned with the viewpoints of online personalities.”
This isn't the first time Patel has faced off against Seraphin, who is also apparently mentioned in the lawsuit filed by three fired FBI agents earlier this month.
In August, Patel's girlfriend and country singer Alexis Wilkins sued the former agent who had claimed whistleblower protections after he alleged she was a spy and part of a "honeypot" operation.
In the suit, she claims that Seraphin "has maliciously lied" about her by “falsely asserting that she—an American-born country singer—is an agent of a foreign government, assigned to manipulate and compromise the Director of the FBI."
Seraphin, who actually had a friendly standing with the FBI director and benefited from his nonprofit “Kash Foundation” in 2022, received $10,000 when he was "essentially homeless" after leaving the FBI.
Most recently, The New York Times reports that Patel last week allegedly fired another agent after "Seraphin falsely claimed that agent was central to the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid."
"The incidents offer a glimpse into the outsized power wielded by Seraphin at a moment of intense chaos and uncertainty inside the FBI," according to The Bulwark. "In a matter of months, Seraphin has become a mischievous bogeyman for Patel’s operation, using his experience, sources within the agency, and pugnacious online persona to constantly goad the director."