3 ms·

Kash Patel's Personalized Bourbon Stash

64 points by petethomas 6mo ago

themafia 6mo ago
> he believes that many agents would worry that if the director offers you a bottle, and “you aren’t on board on receiving it enthusiastically, you are getting polygraphed for loyalty.” You work at a place that can polygraph you for loyalty? And you're defending anything about this?
- tclancy 6mo ago
  A. it shows you what deep thinkers the whole place is regardless of the person in charge right now (who is incredibly odious) B. Of course _you_ would say that.
3eb7988a1663 6mo ago
Can someone explain Patel's defamation lawsuit? I have no reason to doubt the Atlantic story about his drinking. If he sues and publicly loses, that is significantly more humiliating than quietly letting the story be forgotten.
- tekla 6mo ago
  Intimidation.
  - 3eb7988a1663 6mo ago
    The calculus still fails for me. If this was a podunk Youtuber, sure, intimidate away. The Atlantic has been in the press business for a long time, and is not going to publish a piece against a vindictive administration without being confident in the reporting. They are prepared to defend themselves against a baseless suit.
    - tekla 6mo ago
      Well the Government has effectively infinite resources, versus some media outlet. You also forget that the point is to signal to the base/allies that you are fighting. The fact that the lawsuit didn't immediately get tossed out is a signal that your claims might have merit (even though thats not really how it works)
      - throw0101a 6mo ago
        > Well the Government has effectively infinite resources, versus some media outlet. The Atlantic is (co-?)owned by Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerson_Collective https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerson_Collective * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic#Ownership_and_editors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic#Ownership_and_edi... I would guess they have some resources too. > The fact that the lawsuit didn't immediately get tossed out is a signal that your claims might have merit (even though thats not really how it works) The Atlantic may have not filed a motion to dismiss so they could go to discovery to dig up more info on how the FBI is being run.
    - gowld 6mo ago
      Kayfabe for the base and the ignorant middle.
- bdangubic 6mo ago
  Suing is highly publicized thing, the "he dropped the lawsuit" or "lawsuit was dismissed" will be Friday news dump not covered by anything or anyone (especially now when one party control most if not all media - including "social" media)
  - jandrese 6mo ago
    Exactly right. The right wing media will be all over the lawsuit and the X crowd will take the opportunity to dunk on the "liebral media" and how this proves that journalists can't be trusted because they make stuff up like Kash Patel's drinking. They will be silent months later when the lawsuit is quietly dropped. The only thing the readers will remember is how the evil liberals got what was coming to them. These are the people who still think the Muller report "totally exonerated" the Trump administration.
    - throw0101a 6mo ago
      > The right wing media will be all over the lawsuit and the X crowd will take the opportunity to dunk on the "liebral media" and how this proves that journalists can't be trusted because they make stuff up like Kash Patel's drinking. After The Atlantic published their story on the military group chats and were attacked by the Administration their subscription numbers purportedly went up: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_group_chat_leaks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_group... “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” — Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
      - bdangubic 6mo ago
        Comparing a drunk FBI Director frivolous lawsuit to military group chat leak is all sorts of crazy. No one's subscription numbers are going up for reporting about should-be-in-AA-meetings-and-not-running-FBI DEI hire (or even worse the eventual drop/dismissal of this case).
        6mo ago
throwworhtthrow 6mo ago
Context: The FBI Director Is MIA - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47813001 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47813001 (18 days ago) F.B.I. Director Sues The Atlantic Over Article Claiming Excessive Drinking - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/us/politics/kash-patel-atlantic-article-alcohol-drinking-fbi-lawsuit.html https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/us/politics/kash-patel-at... (15 days ago) FBI investigating leaks to journalist who wrote explosive article on Kash Patel - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48037332 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48037332 (8 hours ago)
jcgrillo 6mo ago
There's nothing wrong with Woodford but... idk if I was going to have a bottle engraved with my name maybe find something more interesting? Strange behavior though...
ugh123 6mo ago
Guy is a fucking joke
arjie 6mo ago
Isn't this just a strange form of Challenge Coin[0]? I always found those odd and this seems odd in the same vein as opposed to a new kind of odd. It being alcohol is perhaps mildly interesting. 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenge_coin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenge_coin
- tclancy 6mo ago
  Oh he has those too. According to the article, his are comically oversized, even for the genre. Because of course they are. The poor dude just screams I WANT TO BELONG in a way the other children find repellent. Other than bullies who know the value of a useful fool. Weird.
malbs 6mo ago
I love that Sarah Fitzpatrick has absolutely doubled down on this, gets sued, drops another article, "come at me bro"
- anonymousiam 6mo ago
  None of Patel's actions cited in this article are a crime, but I'll bet this article of hers could become useful in Patel's defamation suit.
  - throw0101a 6mo ago
    > None of Patel's actions cited in this article are a crime, but I'll bet this article of hers could become useful in Patel's defamation suit. It may not be a crime to be at your job own job too, anonymousiam, but if you regularly showed up for work drunk and other people had to pick up the slack, I would hazard to guess you would be fired. But when you're the Director of the FBI, the two ways to be fired are (a) by the President, or (b) by Congress. Very (politically) difficult to do. Is the US taxpayer entitled to know if their taxes are being used to pay the salary for someone who regularly goes on alcoholic benders?
travelalberta 6mo ago
I think Tim Dillon said it best when he stated: “Kash Patel was hired to explicitly NOT run the FBI”
r0ckarong 6mo ago
That country is such a clown show.
xtiansimon 6mo ago
Paywall’d

64 points by petethomas 6mo ago

> he believes that many agents would worry that if the director offers you a bottle, and “you aren’t on board on receiving it enthusiastically, you are getting polygraphed for loyalty.” You work at a place that can polygraph you for loyalty? And you're defending anything about this?

tclancy 6mo ago
A. it shows you what deep thinkers the whole place is regardless of the person in charge right now (who is incredibly odious) B. Of course _you_ would say that.

3eb7988a1663 6mo ago

Can someone explain Patel's defamation lawsuit? I have no reason to doubt the Atlantic story about his drinking. If he sues and publicly loses, that is significantly more humiliating than quietly letting the story be forgotten.

tekla 6mo ago
Intimidation.
- 3eb7988a1663 6mo ago
  The calculus still fails for me. If this was a podunk Youtuber, sure, intimidate away. The Atlantic has been in the press business for a long time, and is not going to publish a piece against a vindictive administration without being confident in the reporting. They are prepared to defend themselves against a baseless suit.
  - tekla 6mo ago
    Well the Government has effectively infinite resources, versus some media outlet. You also forget that the point is to signal to the base/allies that you are fighting. The fact that the lawsuit didn't immediately get tossed out is a signal that your claims might have merit (even though thats not really how it works)
    - throw0101a 6mo ago
      > Well the Government has effectively infinite resources, versus some media outlet. The Atlantic is (co-?)owned by Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerson_Collective https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerson_Collective * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic#Ownership_and_editors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic#Ownership_and_edi... I would guess they have some resources too. > The fact that the lawsuit didn't immediately get tossed out is a signal that your claims might have merit (even though thats not really how it works) The Atlantic may have not filed a motion to dismiss so they could go to discovery to dig up more info on how the FBI is being run.
  - gowld 6mo ago
    Kayfabe for the base and the ignorant middle.
bdangubic 6mo ago
Suing is highly publicized thing, the "he dropped the lawsuit" or "lawsuit was dismissed" will be Friday news dump not covered by anything or anyone (especially now when one party control most if not all media - including "social" media)
- jandrese 6mo ago
  Exactly right. The right wing media will be all over the lawsuit and the X crowd will take the opportunity to dunk on the "liebral media" and how this proves that journalists can't be trusted because they make stuff up like Kash Patel's drinking. They will be silent months later when the lawsuit is quietly dropped. The only thing the readers will remember is how the evil liberals got what was coming to them. These are the people who still think the Muller report "totally exonerated" the Trump administration.
  - throw0101a 6mo ago
    > The right wing media will be all over the lawsuit and the X crowd will take the opportunity to dunk on the "liebral media" and how this proves that journalists can't be trusted because they make stuff up like Kash Patel's drinking. After The Atlantic published their story on the military group chats and were attacked by the Administration their subscription numbers purportedly went up: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_group_chat_leaks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_group... “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” — Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
    - bdangubic 6mo ago
      Comparing a drunk FBI Director frivolous lawsuit to military group chat leak is all sorts of crazy. No one's subscription numbers are going up for reporting about should-be-in-AA-meetings-and-not-running-FBI DEI hire (or even worse the eventual drop/dismissal of this case).
      - 6mo ago

throwworhtthrow 6mo ago

Context: The FBI Director Is MIA - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47813001 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47813001 (18 days ago) F.B.I. Director Sues The Atlantic Over Article Claiming Excessive Drinking - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/us/politics/kash-patel-atlantic-article-alcohol-drinking-fbi-lawsuit.html https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/us/politics/kash-patel-at... (15 days ago) FBI investigating leaks to journalist who wrote explosive article on Kash Patel - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48037332 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48037332 (8 hours ago)

jcgrillo 6mo ago

There's nothing wrong with Woodford but... idk if I was going to have a bottle engraved with my name maybe find something more interesting? Strange behavior though...

ugh123 6mo ago

Guy is a fucking joke

arjie 6mo ago

Isn't this just a strange form of Challenge Coin[0]? I always found those odd and this seems odd in the same vein as opposed to a new kind of odd. It being alcohol is perhaps mildly interesting. 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenge_coin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenge_coin

tclancy 6mo ago
Oh he has those too. According to the article, his are comically oversized, even for the genre. Because of course they are. The poor dude just screams I WANT TO BELONG in a way the other children find repellent. Other than bullies who know the value of a useful fool. Weird.

malbs 6mo ago

I love that Sarah Fitzpatrick has absolutely doubled down on this, gets sued, drops another article, "come at me bro"

anonymousiam 6mo ago
None of Patel's actions cited in this article are a crime, but I'll bet this article of hers could become useful in Patel's defamation suit.
- throw0101a 6mo ago
  > None of Patel's actions cited in this article are a crime, but I'll bet this article of hers could become useful in Patel's defamation suit. It may not be a crime to be at your job own job too, anonymousiam, but if you regularly showed up for work drunk and other people had to pick up the slack, I would hazard to guess you would be fired. But when you're the Director of the FBI, the two ways to be fired are (a) by the President, or (b) by Congress. Very (politically) difficult to do. Is the US taxpayer entitled to know if their taxes are being used to pay the salary for someone who regularly goes on alcoholic benders?

travelalberta 6mo ago

I think Tim Dillon said it best when he stated: “Kash Patel was hired to explicitly NOT run the FBI”

r0ckarong 6mo ago

That country is such a clown show.

xtiansimon 6mo ago

Paywall’d