'No integrity': Former agent says FBI morale at an all-time low
Source: Alternet.org · Bias: Left
Summary
President Donald Trump's FBI director, Kash Patel, is reported to have caused morale at America's top federal law enforcement agency to fall to an all-time low."Most FBI agents feel — I do not know a single agent who, like me, left, nor do I have any friends whatsoever still in the Bureau who have a single positive thing to say about his stewardship," Michael Feinberg, a former FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge, said to MS NOW's Katy Tur on Thursday. "Nobody agrees with every director's every decision. I was there for [Robert] Mueller, for [James] Comey, for [Christopher] Wray, and for a brief time for Patel. And the difference is, with the first three, you might have disagreed with their decision or their policies, but you had respect for their intellectual credentials. You had respect for their professional achievements. You had respect for their temperament and their character, their integrity. Patel brings no intellectual credentials to the job. He has no relevant experience whatsoever that would have enabled him to do this well. And as near as we can tell, he has no integrity. So it's unclear what anybody would look up to."Following this breakdown, Feinberg added that "I have never seen morale in any organization as low as it is in the FBI right now." Mentioning that Patel describes the FBI as a "diseased temple" and this further alienates his workforce, he also addressed claims that the FBI is full of liberals."I'd humbly suggest that allegation alone has no basis whatsoever," Feinberg told Tur. "In reality, people who work in law enforcement and national security are not exactly known for being leftists. These aren't people singing the Internationale and celebrating May Day. I think it's pretty fair to call most of them, at least on the law-and-order side, right-leaning."Patel is currently embroiled in a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic after the magazine reported Patel's FBI colleagues expressing alarm at his reported excessive drinking and unexplained absences. He allegedly has been difficult to rouse due to his severe intoxication and drank heavily at a private Washington club, raising concerns that he was not able to effectively protect the public in his job. Furthering the concerns about his fitness, Patel snapped at NBC's Ryan Reilly at a press conference when he was asked if he feared he had been fired after being unable to log into his government computer.“The problem with you and your baseless reporting is that is an absolute lie,” Patel shot back. “It was never said. It never happened. And I will serve in this administration as long as the president and the attorney general want me to do so.” He added, “you are off topic,” and “the answer to your question is you are lying.”Despite his repeated denials of excessive drinking, Patel was reportedly personally chided by Trump after he was seen on video drinking beer and seeming intoxicated while celebrating with the USA Hockey Team during this year's Winter Olympics.https://youtu.be/48ss-UF-voM
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