Kash Patel’s alleged casual approach has infuriated FBI officials and netizens alike. Despite being tasked with crucial responsibilities, the President Donald Trump-appointed FBI director has got dozens of officials at the nation’s intelligence and security service, and Department of Justice worried.

According to an NBC News report, officials fear that the Indian-origin Trump-appointee isn’t taking his job seriously enough. Flight logs and social media activity further shed light on the FBI director being more focussed on regularly being sighted with celebrities at professional sporting events in the US than his official schedule.

Just months into his top FBI job, Kash Patel reportedly more concerned with public appearances

Patel took office on February 20. Since then, he has reportedly used FBI planes for three flights destined to Nashville, Tennessee, where his girlfriend, country singer, lives. Two others were bound for Las Vegas, where he has a home, with another headed to New York for a hockey game. The 45-year-old’s detours go against FBI policy, which mandates that directors only use the government aircraft for security reasons.

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On the contrary, an FBI spokesperson said that Patel was actually going by the book as far as FBI ethics rules were concerned. However, he declined to respond to claims of trips mentioned above, citing “security purposes.”

Weekly meetings cancelled, briefings cut from five days to two

Two current officials with direct knowledge about Kash Patel’s alleged negligence said that he is receiving the ‘director’s brief” merely two days a week. Two former FBI and DOJ officials familiar with the issue also vouched for the claims. Additionally, a former and one current FBI official noted that the newly-appointed FBI director has stopped holding the weekly video teleconference slated for Wednesdays with FBI leaders.

An official maintained, “They were struggling with trying to have the briefing run in the morning because Patel couldn’t make it in on time. So now they cut the briefing from five days a week to only two days, Tuesday and Thursday. And even that has been a struggle.” Similarly, Stacey Young, a former DOJ lawyer who co-founded Justice Connection, backed claims of officials struggling with a sense of “leadership void.”

FBI spokesperson says otherwise

Officials working on the morning director’s briefings attributed change in schedule to instances of Patel’s late arrivals. Although FBI spokesman Ben Williamson confirmed that the 8:30 am director’s briefing had reduced, he dismissed claims of the director arriving late. He maintained that Patel continues to attend five morning meetings each week.

“This change was based on feedback from people in the Bureau — NOT the Director’s schedule or attendance,” the spokesman said. “He still has 5 morning meetings per week. These meetings are critical to keeping America safe.”

Kash Patel infuriates X

MSNBC ran the same story surrounding Patel’s alleged faltering leadership during a television broadcast, noting that him wearing a “badge… annoys a lots of agents because he never went through the training that they did.” Even putting that aside, the focus remains on whether he’s investing enough hours into the top job. As FBI and DOJ officials claim that he’s not, the circulating reports eventually reached social media, where Patel also became the subject of netizens’ ire.

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User @cwebbonline plugged the new broadcast video in an X post on Saturday (IST), declaring “Kash Patel is the living definition of waste, fraud, and abuse–all on the taxpayer’s dime.” The X user’s sardonic dig at Patel underscored the prolonged criticism of bringing the former prosecutor to power despite having little law enforcement experience prior to his nomination.

In February, The Wall Street Journal echoed similar claims, as the outlet learned that Patel told officials from regional field office that he didn’t like meeting during his very first week as FBI director. Consequently, he is believed to have told the field officer leadership that he might hold those videoconferencing calls just once a month.

Much like he appears to be ghosting his current job, as per FBI and DOJ officials’ narrative, his second job as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives died a silent death earlier this month after he was reportedly not “seen inside an ATF facility for weeks.”