Senator makes the one move that could end Kash Patel's FBI career

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) on Monday formally asked the Justice Department's internal watchdog to investigate FBI Director Kash Patel — escalating a months-long firestorm over the embattled director's alleged drinking and reports that he has cooked the bureau's arrest stats.

In a letter to Deputy Inspector General William Blier, Blumenthal requested a formal probe into "the allegations that Director Patel's excessive drinking has interfered with his ability to perform his role" — as well as separate allegations that Patel has been "manipulating both arrest statistics and the FBI's Most Wanted list."

It's the first time a senator has officially routed the swirling allegations to an independent investigator with subpoena power — a body that has ended FBI careers before.

"The role of FBI Director is not a part-time job," Blumenthal wrote. "The Director must be on call and ready to perform at all hours. We are fortunate that a terror attack, mass shooting, or assassination did not occur while Patel was intoxicated or unreachable — but these allegations leave me deeply concerned about his ability to continue serving in the role."

The senator cited bombshell reporting from The Atlantic last month, which detailed Patel's alleged pattern of drinking and unexplained absences. According to that account, members of Patel's security detail at one point requested SWAT-style "breaching equipment" because they couldn't wake him behind locked doors.

Patel has fought back hard. He filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick, and the FBI has opened a criminal leak probe targeting the journalist — a move former officials called wildly unusual because no classified information was involved.

But Blumenthal's letter piles on a second scandal that an inspector general is specifically tasked with auditing: doctored numbers.

Citing recent MS NOW reporting, Blumenthal alleged Patel "artificially inflated the Bureau's arrest statistics" by quietly changing how the FBI counts arrests, then publicly bragged about the juiced numbers. The bureau also reportedly gamed its Most Wanted list by "add[ing] fugitives mere days or even just hours before their anticipated capture — creating a false impression of steady progress."

"Manipulation of either to improve the reputation of a struggling FBI Director is unacceptable," the Democratic senator wrote.

The referral lands at a precarious moment for Patel. He's been dogged by additional reports that he diverted his girlfriend's FBI security detail to chauffeur a drunk friend around Nashville, and a New York Post account describing the bureau as a "rudderless ship." Last week, Patel lashed out at Democratic senators who pressed him on the allegations at a budget hearing.

Unlike a defamation suit or a leak probe, an inspector general investigation is one Patel cannot sue, spin, or shut down — and its findings can trigger removal.

That said, the odds of an actual probe are slim. The DOJ Inspector General's office is currently led by William M. Blier in an acting capacity after President Trump fired a wave of inspectors general across the federal government in early 2025, and watchdogs operating under a Trump-appointed administration have shown little appetite for opening politically explosive investigations into the president's hand-picked loyalists.