FBI Director Kash Patel's staff seems focused on making sure President Donald Trump's nominee has plenty of fun while traveling at taxpayer expense.
The 45-year-old Patel traveled to Britain in May for a secret conference of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance formed after World War II among the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Current and former FBI employees revealed to the New York Times requests by his staff that struck them as unusual.
"In the lead-up to that, his detail starts making crazy requests, he’s got special requirements on everything, and the Brits are getting pissed," said a senior FBI executive.
"Before the conference, his staff says he’s unhappy because he doesn’t like meetings in office settings," that executive added.
What he wants is social events, he wants Premier soccer games. He wants to go jet skiing, he’d like a helicopter tour. Everyone who heard about this was like: Hold on. Is he really going to ask the MI5 director to go jet skiing instead of meeting? The schedule is set, and every Five Eyes partner is doing this. They can’t just say that he’s not participating and instead he wants to go to a Premier soccer game. This is a job, guys."
The executive was struck by how unserious Patel seemed to be about the duties of his job leading the nation's top federal investigative agency.
"His staff only cared about three things: what his meals were, when his workouts would be and what his entertainment would be," the executive said. "The biggest plan is how he’s going to get his girlfriend in there so she can go to Windsor Castle. He’s got Nicole Rucker as his assistant, like a true executive concierge, and when she’s not getting the food or the workout she wants, she’ll just start screaming at people, Make it happen!"
When Patel did focus on his duties, the executive said, he bungled so badly that he caused an international incident.
"His staff was briefed multiple times that the Brits were going to want to talk about an FBI position in London that has been pulled," the executive said. "The FBI is arguably their most important partner. MI5 is 5,000 people. The FBI is 38,000. If MI5 ceased to exist, it would be very bad for us. If we cease to exist, it would be an existential threat for them. That person was working on a ton of sensitive stuff, including embassy penetrations and technology, and they want this position back."
"So Ken McCallum, the MI5 director, goes to Kash Patel at the conference and says: Hey, we really need this position. It’s so important for our mutual benefit. And Kash says: Yep, that person’s going nowhere. She’s absolutely staying. And the Brits rejoice," the executive continued.
"Two weeks later, he reverses himself and removes her," that source added. "The Brits are outraged. Kash will make promises and he will break them, and he doesn’t worry about that."
Patel and his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, did get a visit to Windsor Castle to meet with King Charles, but his fixation on social media caused problems.
"On that trip, the heads of intelligence for the Five Eyes went to Windsor Castle and met with the king," the executive said. "There was a photo taken of all the Five Eyes people, some of whom are non-disclosed, meaning their affiliation with the British intelligence service isn’t public."
"The Brits forwarded that picture as a keepsake for the individuals," the executive added. "They prefaced it with, This isn’t to be shared. But Kash has decided he wants to post it on social media. They have people trying to negotiate with the Brits about whether that’s possible. They’re fighting with the director’s office, like: You cannot post this. Do not do that. And they’re arguing, He wants a picture out."