Kash Patel, President Trump’s controversial pick to lead the FBI, is facing a fresh wave of ridicule — this time from within his own agency.
According to former FBI Senior Executive Christopher O’Leary, agents have begun referring to their boss with a cutting new nickname: “The Make-a-Wish Director.”
“This is what people inside the Bureau are calling him,” O’Leary revealed during a Saturday segment on MSNOW’s The Weekend. “Because Kash Patel acts like being FBI director is his childhood dream come true — and he’s using that wish to do whatever he wants.”
O’Leary accused Patel, 45, of using the FBI’s $60 million Gulfstream jet “like his personal Uber.”
“He’s flying to UFC fights, hockey games, wrestling events, even hunting trips — all on the taxpayer’s dime,” O’Leary said. “Meanwhile, the Bureau’s real work is being buried under the weight of his ego.”
Patel, who once railed against former directors for personal jet use, now defends his own flights under a technical policy requiring him to travel on the FBI aircraft. Though Patel reimburses only the cost of a commercial ticket, taxpayers foot the rest — often tens of thousands of dollars per trip.
In late October, whistleblower Kyle Seraphin used public flight records to show Patel’s plane made multiple “coincidental” stops tied to his girlfriend, 27-year-old country singer Alexis Wilkins. One flight took him to Penn State University for a wrestling event Wilkins attended; another went straight to Nashville, where she lives.
An Instagram post of Patel grinning ringside beside Wilkins quickly set off a firestorm online.
Alexis Wilkins / Instagram
O’Leary didn’t just criticize Patel’s jetsetting. He also alleged Patel misused Bureau resources by ordering SWAT protection for Wilkins, despite no credible threats against her.
“It’s absurd,” O’Leary fumed. “Should his old college roommate get a security detail next? Or his cousin who came over for Thanksgiving? This is taxpayer-funded nonsense.”
A former FBI agent speaking anonymously to Politico echoed the frustration, calling Patel’s leadership “a frat house operation in a federal agency.”
The FBI declined to comment on either Patel’s travel or his girlfriend’s protection detail.
Patel, a longtime Trump ally, was once best known as the aide who pushed claims of “deep state corruption” during the Mueller probe. But his tenure as FBI director has been marked by chaos — and repeated allegations of misconduct.
In recent months, Patel has faced bipartisan criticism for his handling of the long-sealed Epstein files. In September, he told Congress there was “no evidence” that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked women to anyone other than himself — a statement that sparked outrage from lawmakers who accused Patel of shielding powerful figures, including Trump.
An internal memo leaked to The Washington Sentinel reportedly described the FBI under Patel as “demoralized, divided, and distracted by optics.”
Despite Patel’s controversies, the White House insists President Trump stands by him.
“There is no rift,” a senior administration official told reporters earlier this week. “Director Patel continues to enjoy the full confidence of the President.”
Still, O’Leary believes the loyalty runs deeper than competence. “Kash Patel is a dumpster fire as FBI director,” he said. “If Trump keeps him in place, Americans need to ask why. What’s he protecting — or who?”
For now, Patel remains defiant. In a recent appearance on Truth Social Live, he dismissed the “Make-a-Wish” moniker as “media garbage from bitter ex-officials.”
But inside the FBI, morale reportedly continues to plummet — and Patel’s sky-high lifestyle may soon face congressional scrutiny.
“This isn’t a game show,” O’Leary warned. “This is the Federal Bureau of Investigation. And right now, it’s being run like a celebrity vanity project.”
Source: MSNOW, Politico, The Washington Sentinel
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I’m retired FBI and support Director Patel 100%. Finally, the Bureau is moving back to being a law enforcement agency and not a social experiment. During my 25-year career I watched as DEI forced a recruitment that had nothing to do with actual education and skills. It was all about ethnicity, nationality, sex and sexual preference. Amazing candidates were routinely passed over for people who would never make it as “real” Agents. It was a joke as were the monthly divisive so-called celebrations of pride and what not. I thank God every day for President Trump and people like Patel who understand public service is not about feathering your personal nest egg but rather doing your job as effectively and efficiently as possible.