FBI defends Kash Patel over customised whiskey bottle gifts
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · May 7
FBI defends Kash Patel over customised whiskey bottle gifts
9 articles · Updated · The Guardian · May 7
Assistant director Ben Williamson said Patel followed ethics rules and reimbursed any personal gifts after the Atlantic cited eight people alleging he handed out engraved Woodford Reserve bottles.
The magazine said the bottles bore “Kash Patel FBI Director” branding and were carried on official duties, including a February Milan trip on a Justice Department aircraft.
The allegations follow a separate Atlantic report on Patel’s drinking, which he denied before suing the publication and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick for $250m in Washington.
Beyond branded bourbon, do these controversies reveal a deeper crisis of accountability within the FBI?
Amid leak probes and lawsuits, is the line between protecting secrets and press freedom being blurred?