FBI Director Kash Patel has posted a video on social media set to the Beastie Boys’ song “Sabotage,” featuring AI-generated clips from the band’s music video interspersed with FBI footage and news clips. The move comes after comedian Aziz Ansari portrayed Patel as hyperactive and bug-eyed on Saturday Night Live over the weekend.
Patel had earlier posted a similar highlight reel using Guns N’ Roses’ “You Could Be Mine” on Saturday, hours before the SNL skit aired. In the self-congratulatory videos, Patel claims: “The FBI delivered the safest America under President Trump’s leadership in the history of our country.”
The director is facing scrutiny over his leadership and allegations of alcohol abuse on the job, which he has vehemently denied. He filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic and journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick over a profile that characterised him as paranoid and prone to excessive drinking.
It is unclear whether the FBI obtained permission to use the music. The Beastie Boys have rarely licensed their music since the death of Adam Yauch in 2012, and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz has previously called Donald Trump a “racist, sexist, homophobe”. Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose has also criticised Trump for using the band’s music.
More than a dozen House Democrats have launched an investigation into Patel’s alleged drinking and called on him to share screening results with Congress. Patel has also faced bipartisan criticism over the FBI’s handling of investigations into Jeffrey Epstein.
