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Foreigna With a new mini episode to start off your week, this new feature is a little more topical and more to do with my day to day job as a columnist for the New York Post. When I zoom in on a topic that I think will interest you. Today's subject is the embattled leadership of FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino. They've copped a lot of criticism, some fair and some unfair. Today I present an independent report on Kash Patel's first six months, written by FBI insiders who I trust as being accurate and fair and whose work I have reported on before. We all acknowledge the difficulty of reforming such a corrupt institution, but nobody would deny that Cash and Dan had have got off to a rocky start. There are a lot of different columns I could have written, but I thought it best to deliver these home truths from friends who only have the best intentions. For the FBI, there is only a short window of opportunity during Donald Trump's presidency to fix the bureau and time is wasting. FBI Director Kash Patel is facing withering criticism from an alliance of active duty and retired agents and analysts. Days after the White House denied media reports that the President is about to fire him. A troubling new report card on the first six months of Patel's leadership concludes he is quote, in over his head and that his deputy Dan Bongino is something of a clown. According to the alliance, which in two previous reports has warned about crippling DEI and politicization of the FBI during the Biden administration, the Patel led FBI is described in the 115 page report as a quote, rudderless ship and quote all f ed up. Patel is described by multiple internal sources as inexperienced with one source saying he has, quote, neither the breadth of experience nor the bearing an FBI director needs to be successful, end quote. Another source, a self professed Trump supporter, said Peter Patel is quote, not very good, maybe insecure and lacks the requisite experience or the measured self confidence to be FBI director. However, another source described him as quote, very personable and likable while noting he has quote created a culture of mistrust and uncertainty among the ranks, end quote. Patel comes in for heavy criticism for his behaviour in Salt Lake City after the Charlie Kirk assassination when he is accused of giving quote premature public remarks, quote that in quote that potentially jeopardized the investigation, taking credit for the work of other agencies when the suspect was arrested and for yelling and swearing at the agent in charge. Both he and Bongino were criticised for arrogance and quote, an unfortunate Obsession with social media. One source said they need to, quote, stop talking, stop posing and just be professional. Another said they are spending too much time on social media and public relations and are too often concerned with building their own personal resumes, end quote. The report was written in the style of an official FBI intelligence assessment, analysing reports from 24 FBI sources and sub sources and using anecdotes to illustrate troubling themes. The case of the, quote, medium sized raid jacket is one example. On September 11, 2025, the day after Kirk was assassinated, Patel flew into Provo, Utah on the FBI jet, but, quote, would not disembark from the plane without an FBI raid jacket. According to Alpha99, a highly respected source who has served in the FBI for multiple decades, quote, patel apparently did not have his own FBI raid jacket with him and refused to step from the plane without wearing one, end quote. FBI special agents at the Salt Lake City field office who were busy working on the Kirk case had to stop and ask around to find an FBI raid jacket, a medium sized one that would fit Patel. When a jacket belonging to a female agent was finally delivered to Patel on the plane, he complained that, quote, two areas on the upper sleeves did not have Velcro patches attached, end quote Patel would not leave the plane until he had two patches to cover those areas. So members of an FBI SWAT team took patches off their uniforms and ran those patches over to Patel at the airport. The patches were then attached to the loner FBI raid jacket and Patel disembarked from the plane. Patel did not make a positive impression, said Alpha99, the director was, quote, not happy with the way the investigation was going and had earlier, quote, yelled at Special Agent in Charge Robert Bowles and directed, quote, an expletive laden tirade over, quote, perceived blunders in the case. Bongino later called Bowles and apologised for Patel's tirade, quote, saying that should never have happened. According to the source, Alpha99 also said Patel, quote, did a disservice to the FBI by breaking with bureau tradition and norms, by taking credit for the good work by other agencies. In the Kirk case, Alpha99 said Director Patel seemed to imply the results achieved in the investigation would not have been possible without his Patel's involvement. In another situation. At the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, Patel was said to be upset when he heard about a, quote, discussion that took place among a few dozen FBI personnel about his request that he be issued an FBI firearm. When details of the discussion were leaked, Patel ordered Everyone to get polygraphs to find out who had criticized him. According to the source named Alpha95, who is described as, quote, a highly respected leader and person of integrity. Alpha 95 was dismayed by the order to conduct polygraph examinations which were needlessly, quote, punitive. But to demonstrate the internal resistance facing Patel, the report says Trump Derangement Syndrome remains alive and well under, quote, left leaning factions embedded within the ranks of the FBI. And FBI personnel openly express disdain for the President. One source blames past recruitment policies which prioritised hiring teachers who were more left leaning in their personal views. Televisions in FBI field offices are reported to be tuned to leftist channels. MSNBC now, Ms. Now and cnn, but not Fox News. The report, subtitled A Pulse Check of the First Six Months of Patel's leadership will be presented to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees this week. It was never intended to be a hit piece in any way, shape or form, say the authors, who requested anonymity to avoid jeopardising their position. But the anecdotal reporting from FBI personnel skewed 80, 20, negative, end quote. There is good news for Patel in the report card. The rollback of DEI policies under Patel is welcomed by multiple sources who say it has reduced the, quote, administrative burden. One source described immigration raids in which the FBI assists ICE as quote, overwhelmingly successful. Those individuals being swept up in the raids are criminal and dangerous, not otherwise law abiding grandmas who have been 20 years as reported by some media outlets, end quote. Another source applauded the fact that, quote, casework and threats are now the priority and even most of those assigned to FBI headquarters who have been kicked back out to the field acknowledge the reprioritization is a positive move, end quote. While FBI morale elsewhere remained low, one source reported high morale among personnel working in counterterrorism and criminal investigation in an FBI field office's joint task force who, quote, unlike the previous administration in the White House, are completely supported by the DOJ and the FBI Field Officer's respective U.S. attorney's office. Another source reported quote, operational effectiveness has improved because prosecutors are being more aggressive to stay in the administration's favour. Patel's firing of a number of senior executives deemed complicit in past abuses was welcomed by one source. But reforms, quote, have not gone deep enough and should be brought to the mid management level. The authors say they, quote, would like nothing more than for the FBI and its director to succeed for the greater good and the nation. But redemption and resurrection of this proud agency will never be achieved unless there is full transparency to expose critical culture and operational deficiencies, end quote. They conclude by advising the notoriously thin skinned Patelin Bongino to heed the criticism if they want to succeed. Don't forget to come back on Wednesday for our next full episode of Pod Force One. This week we're in Washington, D.C. with Senator Ron Johnson, one of Congress's most relentless investigators of government wrongdoing, COVID policy failures, FBI malfeasance, Hunter Biden's adventures, you name it, he's there. I hope you can tune in and have a wonderful post Thanksgiving week.