FBI Director Kash Patel has insisted he has the “evidence” to finally prove President Trump’s long-standing claim that the 2020 election was rigged against him, and hinted he could make it available this week.
Patel – who was hit by allegations of alcoholism this weekend, sparking rumors he could soon be fired – told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures: “We have the information that backs President Trump’s claim.
“I can’t get ahead of the Department of Justice and the president, but President Trump… President Trump speaks truthfully when he says that.”
“Stay tuned this week,” he urged Fox viewers. “You might see a thing or two.”
Trump claimed his defeat to Joe Biden in November 2020 was the result of a nationwide conspiracy to fix the outcome, inspiring a short-lived “Stop the Steal” movement that culminated in the attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 2021, in which his supporters stormed the legislative complex to try to prevent the formal certification of the results by Congress.
Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, had lost a string of court cases attempting to establish wrongdoing in the run-up to the riot, and its aftermath saw the president impeached for a historic second time and more than 1,500 people prosecuted for their involvement, only for their actions to be pardoned in 2025.
The president has, nevertheless, continued to insist he was cheated out of a consecutive second term, and Patel’s claim comes as Michigan officials push back on DOJ attempts to seize Detroit area ballots from the 2024 election, with the state’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, accusing the administration of seeking to sow fresh doubts about electoral integrity ahead of this year’s midterms.
The claims about Patel’s fitness for office were published in The Atlantic late Friday in a profile that alleged he was paranoid about being fired and often drank to excess at clubs in Washington, D.C., and his home city of Las Vegas, violating FBI conduct standards and potentially leaving the nation’s top law enforcement official vulnerable to coercion or exploitation.
Patel attacked the report on X (Twitter) shortly after its publication, writing: “Memo to the fake news – the only time I’ll ever actually be concerned about the hit piece lies you write about me will be when you stop.
“Keep talking, it means I’m doing exactly what I should be doing. And no amount of BS you write will ever deter this FBI from making America safe again and taking down the criminals you love.”
During his interview with Baritromo, the director said he would be filing a defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic on Monday, commenting: “We are not going to take this lying down. You want to attack my character? Come at me. Bring it on. I’ll see you in court.”
Sarah Fitzpatrick, the journalist behind the report, has already said she stands “by every word of this reporting,” telling MS NOW: “We have excellent attorneys.”
Speaking to CNN shortly after its publication on Friday, Fitzpatrick alleged that White House insiders routinely discuss Patel’s ousting, which would see him follow ex-Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem and outgoing attorney general Pam Bondi out the door.
“People close to the director have said that he himself has expressed that he believes that he is about to be fired or that is imminent,” she told the network.
“This is widely, widely discussed, I think, within Washington, behind closed doors. In fact, there are senior administration officials who are openly discussing who will be the next FBI director.”
Trump is believed to have been angered by the report on Patel’s drinking, being a lifelong teetotaller himself after losing a brother to alcoholism.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Independent: “Under President Trump and Director Patel’s leadership at the FBI, crime across the country has plummeted to the lowest level in more than 100 years, and many high-profile criminals have been put behind bars.
“Director Patel remains a critical player on the administration’s law and order team.”