FBI Director Kash Patel Distributes Personalized Bourbon Bottles

The bottles are engraved Woodford Reserve bourbon featuring the words "Kash Patel FBI Director" along with an FBI shield. " An eagle holds the shield and the number 9, which appears to reference Patel's position as the ninth FBI director. " The director has given the bottles to FBI staff as well as civilians he meets in his official capacity.

Distribution has occurred during at least one FBI event. One bottle was left behind in a locker room during a trip to Milan for the Olympics in February. The Atlantic reviewed a photograph of that bottle. Patel and his team have transported the whiskey on a Department of Justice plane, including on the Milan trip.

On the same visit, Patel was filmed drinking beer with the gold-medal-winning U.S. men's hockey team. He stated at the time that he was celebrating with his friends on the team.

The FBI did not dispute that Patel gives out bottles of whiskey inscribed with his name. A spokesperson said the gifts are part of a tradition in the FBI that started well over a decade ago, long before Director Patel arrived. The spokesperson added that senior bureau officials have long exchanged commemorative items in formal gift settings consistent with ethics rules and that Director Patel has followed all applicable ethical guidelines and pays for any personal gift himself.

The spokesperson declined to specify which ethical rules were being followed, when the bottles were engraved with Patel's name, or whether any bottles had been reimbursed as personal gifts. The FBI also declined to provide images of bottles bearing the names of past directors.

A former longtime senior FBI official laughed when asked if he had ever seen personally branded liquor bottles distributed by a previous FBI director.

Several current and former FBI employees, including multiple senior leaders, said that a director regularly handing out personally branded bourbon, including to civilians outside the bureau, was unheard-of. Current and former agents expressed concern about the gifts of personalized bourbon.

The FBI has traditionally maintained a zero-tolerance approach to unauthorized use of alcohol on the job and for its misuse while off duty. One former agent said that standard is bending under Patel's leadership. Another former agent described the bottles as demoralizing because they suggest one set of standards for the director and another for the rest of the bureau.

In March, Patel and his team brought at least one case of bourbon to the FBI's training facility in Quantico, Virginia, for a training seminar featuring mixed-martial-arts instruction from Ultimate Fighting Championship athletes. At one point at least one bottle went missing.

The Atlantic previously reported that FBI personnel were alarmed by what they described as erratic behavior and excessive drinking by Patel. Patel has denied the allegations and filed a defamation suit against The Atlantic.