Former FBI Director James Comey commented on the allegations against Kash Patel, the current director, saying he drinks on the job and staff are unable to reach him.
Comey said on “The Bulwark” podcast that the director position is a 24/7 job.
“It’s the reason the FBI director gets no vacation, because the idea is you’re on all the time. And so, I could never be intoxicated,” Comey said.
Comey added that he didn’t know whether the allegations against Patel are true, but to illustrate the demands of the job, he told the story of when he and his wife went to a wedding in Iowa. Comey had left the reception early and went to bed after “having a drink or two,” while his wife continued partying.
When she came back to the hotel room, she placed an item on top of an emergency button that the security team had placed in the room. That triggered an alarm, and agents were pounding on the door in moments, insisting they needed to see the director.
One agent came in and saw Comey sleeping in the bed and left. Comey slept through the whole incident, he said.
The allegations against Patel arose in a hit piece published in The Atlantic Magazine, claiming he mismanages the agency, engages in excessive drinking, and agents sometimes can’t reach him. Patel called it a “malicious hit piece” and filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the publication, according to the Associated Press.
The author, Sarah Fitzpatrick, said Patel is concerned about losing his job and stood by the piece.
