FBI Director Patel Orders Sweeping Polygraph Exams for Staff Amid Internal Leak Hunt and Leadership Turmoil

FBI Director Kash Patel ordered polygraph examinations for more than two dozen current and former members of his security detail and several IT staffers, two sources told MSNBC on May 8. The polygraph directive followed The Atlantic's reporting on Patel's alleged drinking, absences, and use of personalized whiskey bottles, with the New York Sun citing sources who described him as operating in "panic mode." Investigative journalist Carol Leonnig told MSNBC, citing multiple corroborating sources, that Patel had declined to meet with numerous operational leaders this week, with career FBI personnel expressing concern to her that key threat briefings may not be reaching the director. An FBI spokesperson denied Patel had withdrawn from meetings but provided no schedule of recent sessions with division heads.