The FBI director has been giving away custom whiskey to bureau staff and random people he meets. Eight sources including current and former FBI and DOJ employees confirm it. This is what happens when you put a political operative in charge of law enforcement. Patel doesn't see the institution as something to lead with professional distance, he sees it as his personal network to cultivate. Custom whiskey bottles? That's a mob move. That's how you build loyalty outside the chain of command, how you create a faction within the bureau instead of running it as an actual agency. The fact this is even a story tells you everything about the degradation of institutional norms under Trump.