FBI Director Kash Patel’s beer-chugging celebration with Olympic hockey players is resurfacing in a new lawsuit accusing him of firing employees to salvage his standing with President Donald Trump.
Nine former FBI employees sued Patel, Attorney General Todd Blanche and their agencies Thursday, alleging unconstitutional retaliation for their assigned work on Trump’s classified documents investigation, NBC News reported.
The 70-page complaint filed in federal court in D.C. describes Patel “chugging a beer” and “flinging alcohol around” the locker room in Milan.
“This scandal proved politically perilous for Patel,” the ex-agents say in their lawsuit. “He drew widespread criticism for his conduct, with numerous sources suggesting that his status with President Trump and position as Director of the FBI were in jeopardy as a result.”
What followed, they added, was a scramble to regain Trump’s favor.
On Feb. 23, a member of Patel’s advisory team urgently sought access to the classified documents case files for a project he said Patel wanted completed that day, according to the complaint. Those files identified all nine plaintiffs.
Within days, all of them were fired, the lawsuit says, “not for any cause or any legitimate reason, but only to satisfy the President’s personal vendetta.”
The former agents also claim that Patel went on to disclose to Reuters that his and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles’ phone records were subpoenaed “in an apparent attempt to break the news cycle and get back into President Trump’s good graces.”
“The firings did not follow any internal investigation or disciplinary process within the FBI,” the complaint said. “And Plaintiffs were not given any notice, a hearing, or an opportunity to appeal.”
Nine FBI agents who were fired for their work on the Trump classified documents case are suing the bureau and director Kash Patel for what they say was unlawful retribution. https://t.co/DB6fiA9wSY https://t.co/HV9NYfv0FI
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) October 15, 2026