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MaddowBlog-As his FBI tenure goes from bad to worse, Kash Patel abandons the pretense of seriousness
The problem isn’t that the FBI director is failing at his attempts to be a serious and capable figure. The problem is that he isn’t even trying
The problem isn't that Kash Patel is failing at his attempts to be a serious and capable figure. The problem is that the FBI director isn't even trying.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-10-06T17:27:39.716Z
Take his firing of a field agent who wouldn’t humiliate James Comey, for example. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/fbi-tenure-goes-bad-worse-kash-patel-abandons-pretense-seriousness-rcna235945
When Kash Patel arrived at the FBI as its new director earlier this year, he faced the kind of credibility hurdles his predecessors didn’t have to worry about. If Patel was going to be seen as a serious and capable figure, one who is prepared to help lead federal law enforcement, he would have to invest time and energy into proving his mettle, rolling up his sleeves and doing quality work on behalf of the bureau......
Around the same time, the public learned that Patel fired an agent in training for displaying a gay pride flag on his desk while appointed to a field office in California last year. That coincided with news about the FBI director’s ridiculous challenge coins. (“Patel’s coin does not convey ... gravitas,” The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols summarized. “Instead, it says: ‘I am a grown man who has spent way too much time on the internet.’”)
But arguably the lowest of the recent low points was the news about another one of the FBI director’s recent firings. Reuters reported:
This has been confirmed by MSNBC, which reported that an FBI agent in the Washington, D.C., field office really was fired for refusing to arrest and perp walk Comey, the former FBI director.
In other words, Patel wanted to disregard Justice Department policy and humiliate Comey after Trump orchestrated the politically motivated indictment. When an agent balked at playing along with this partisan game, the FBI director ended the agent’s career.
To be sure, Patel has spent 2025 overseeing a political personnel purge at the bureau, but these new revelations suggest the problem is still getting worse.
Around the same time, the public learned that Patel fired an agent in training for displaying a gay pride flag on his desk while appointed to a field office in California last year. That coincided with news about the FBI director’s ridiculous challenge coins. (“Patel’s coin does not convey ... gravitas,” The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols summarized. “Instead, it says: ‘I am a grown man who has spent way too much time on the internet.’”)
But arguably the lowest of the recent low points was the news about another one of the FBI director’s recent firings. Reuters reported:
An FBI agent was relieved of duty for declining to arrange a ‘perp walk’ of the bureau’s former director, James Comey, in front of news media cameras after Comey was federally charged last month, four people briefed on the matter said on Friday. Comey was charged on September 25 with making false statements and obstructing a congressional investigation, in a dramatic escalation of President Donald Trump’s retribution campaign against his political enemies.
This has been confirmed by MSNBC, which reported that an FBI agent in the Washington, D.C., field office really was fired for refusing to arrest and perp walk Comey, the former FBI director.
In other words, Patel wanted to disregard Justice Department policy and humiliate Comey after Trump orchestrated the politically motivated indictment. When an agent balked at playing along with this partisan game, the FBI director ended the agent’s career.
To be sure, Patel has spent 2025 overseeing a political personnel purge at the bureau, but these new revelations suggest the problem is still getting worse.
I was happy to see that there was no perp walk for Comey today