FBI Director Kash Patel has found himself tangled up in yet another high-profile scandal following a report from MS NOW on Thursday, which said he had ordered polygraph tests for more than a dozen former and current members of his security detail.

The report, citing two people briefed on the development, described the embattled director as being in “panic mode,” and said he had been isolating himself from senior FBI leaders.

The report was just the latest in a string of incidents that have landed Patel in hot water over the last several months. Those include an incident at the Winter Olympics where Patel was recorded chugging beer in a locker room with Team USA, a bombshell report in The Atlantic, which detailed incidents of excessive drinking and erratic behavior, and a subsequent report from The Atlantic that claimed Patel had distributed self-branded bourbon bottles to FBI staff and civilians while on official business.

FBI spokesman Ben Williamson declined to comment to MS NOW about whether Patel had ordered the polygraph tests, but denied claims that he had isolated himself from senior staff.

“I’ve been in the usual operational leader meetings with him every day this week … it’s false,” Williamson told the outlet

“The only people in panic are the ‘panicans’ in the media pushing out false stories because they spend zero time covering the record-breaking success in reduction in crime at this FBI,” Williamson added.

Critics were quick to jump on this latest report, with many saying Patel was “paranoid” and questioning why he would feel the need to polygraph his security team if The Atlantic story wasn’t true, as he claimed in his $250 million defamation lawsuit against the magazine.

In a Politico report last month, a top White House official said Patel will likely be the next Trump administration cabinet member to be fired, saying it was “only a matter of time.”

Kash is just a bad, paranoid mess. Never should’ve been given that job. What a disaster he is. https://t.co/N82dRS9Ct4

Ka$h needs to hunt down STAT the treasonous scoundrel who broke into the Hoover Building liquor vault and stole a bottle of his bourbon and gave it to @TheAtlantic https://t.co/UjZwUidgH5

Totally normal not paranoid as fuck. Nope. 😂😂 https://t.co/qYJhNNLGYJ

.@FBIDirectorKash A real leader would have the trust of his team and not have to polygraph them.You are a clown. You can't lead.You have destroyed the @FBI from within. https://t.co/iIyrY4l8fQ

so the libelous story was the result of a leak that must be investigated? https://t.co/Ih6kPeYBLj

So since Kash Patel is acknowledging that the leaks are real, then this is the end of his defamation lawsuit. Oops. https://t.co/hftAMhIjGs

Paranoid Patel is now spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of other people’s Kash to administer polygraph exams on agents to discover which scoundrel told the truth about him being drunk on the job. Yet he won’t take a simple alcohol abuse screening test. We don’t need a… https://t.co/RS7cEpaCB9

Glad the FBI’s resources are being so well deployed … https://t.co/HPKbJuykJ4

By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.