Unease at F.B.I. Intensifies as Patel Ousts Top Officials

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Unease at F.B.I. Intensifies as Patel Ousts Top Officials


The F.B.I. headquarters in Washington.Erin Schaff/The New York Times

Senior executives are being pushed out and the director, Kash Patel, is more freely using polygraph tests to tamp down on news leaks about leadership decisions and behavior.

By Adam Goldman
Reporting from Washington
June 1, 2025

Before being confirmed as the director of the F.B.I., Kash Patel made clear his intent to remake it in his own image, reflecting a larger desire by the White House to bend the agency to its will. … “The F.B.I. has become so thoroughly compromised that it will remain a threat to the people unless drastic measures are taken,” he wrote in his book “Government Gangsters,” asserting that the top ranks of the bureau should be eliminated.

Behind the scenes, his vision of an F.B.I. under President Trump is quietly taking shape. Agents have been forced out. Others have been demoted or put on leave with no explanation. And in an effort to hunt down the sources of news leaks, Mr. Patel is forcing employees to take polygraph tests.

Taken together, the moves are causing worrisome upheaval at the F.B.I., eliciting fear and uncertainty as Mr. Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, quickly restock senior ranks with agents and turn the agency’s attention to immigration. Their persistent claims that the bureau was politicized under previous directors, in addition to their swift actions against colleagues, have left employees to wonder whether they, too, will be ousted, either because they worked on an investigation vilified by Trump supporters or had ties to the previous administration.

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Former and current F.B.I. officials warned that the attempts by Trump loyalists to mold the bureau to their worldview could ultimately have a chilling effect on agents seeking to open cases that could upset Mr. Trump or his base. They added that they viewed many of the personnel moves as retribution. … Mr. Patel and Mr. Bongino have sent a clear message on previous F.B.I. investigations that focused on Mr. Trump or his allies. In essence, former officials said, nobody is above the law except Mr. Trump.


Dan Bongino, now Mr. Patel’s deputy at the F.B.I., with Mr. Trump at a U.F.C. event in Miami in 2024. Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

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Kitty Bennett contributed research.

Adam Goldman writes about the F.B.I. and national security. He has been a journalist for more than two decades.