FBI Director Kash Patel vows to take The Atlantic to court over 'defamatory' report
FBI Director Kash Patel is vowing to take The Atlantic to court over a bombshell report published Friday evening that he says is filled with defamatory claims.
"Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court — bring your checkbook," Patel told The Atlantic in a statement included in the report.
The story, titled, "The FBI Director is MIA," outlined several explosive allegations, including instances of "erratic" behavior, "excessive drinking" and "unexplained absences."
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The first claim alleged Patel had a "freak-out" over a tech issue earlier this month when attempting to log into a computer system, believing he was being fired by President Donald Trump following Attorney General Pam Bondi's ouster and had to prep an announcement. The Atlantic cited nine unnamed sources familiar with the incident.
"But Patel, according to multiple current officials, as well as former officials who have stayed close to him, is deeply concerned that his job is in jeopardy. He has good reasons to think so — including some having to do with what witnesses described to me as bouts of excessive drinking," The Atlantic staff writer Sarah Fitzpatrick told readers before citing past reports of rumors that Patel was also on the chopping block.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Atlantic in a statement that Patel "remains a critical player on the Administration’s law and order team." Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche also threw his support behind the FBI Director, telling Fitzpatrick, "Patel has accomplished more in 14 months than the previous administration did in four years. Anonymously sourced hit pieces do not constitute journalism."
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"The IT-lockout episode is emblematic of Patel’s tumultuous tenure as director of the FBI: He is erratic, suspicious of others, and prone to jumping to conclusions before he has necessary evidence, according to the more than two dozen people I interviewed about Patel’s conduct, including current and former FBI officials, staff at law-enforcement and intelligence agencies, hospitality-industry workers, members of Congress, political operatives, lobbyists, and former advisers," Fitzpatrick wrote.
"Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information and private conversations, they described Patel’s tenure as a management failure and his personal behavior as a national-security vulnerability," she continued.
The report alleged that Patel has a pattern of "conspicuous inebriation" and that "he is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication," which it said often took place at Ned's private club in Washington, D.C. "in the presence of White House and other administration staff" and the Poodle Room in Las Vegas.
"Early in his tenure, meetings and briefings had to be rescheduled for later in the day as a result of his alcohol-fueled nights, six current and former officials and others familiar with Patel’s schedule told me," Fitzpatrick wrote. "On multiple occasions in the past year, members of his security detail had difficulty waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated, according to information supplied to Justice Department and White House officials."
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According to The Atlantic, a request for "breaching equipment" often used by SWAT to gain access to buildings, "was made last year because Patel had been unreachable behind locked doors, according to multiple people familiar with the request." Unnamed sources also speculated whether Patel's alcohol consumption played a role in his social media posts that shared inaccurate information about active law-enforcement investigations, including what he had written in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination before suspect Tyler Robinson turned himself in.
"Some of Patel’s colleagues at the FBI worry that his personal behavior has become a threat to public safety," Fitzpatrick wrote, saying that the unnamed officials fear his ability to handle a domestic terrorist attack, one telling Fitzpatrick, "That’s what keeps me up at night."
Jesse Binnall, an attorney representing Patel, shared a letter that was sent to The Atlantic ahead of the report being published, calling out the magazine for giving the FBI less than two hours to respond to "defamatory assertions" before its stated deadline and that most of the 19 substantive claims are "false."
"The vast majority of the claims in the draft article rely solely on vague, unattributed sourcing such as 'people familiar with the matter' or 'some have characterized.' Any such purported sources could not possibly possess firsthand knowledge, as the allegations are categorically false," Binnall wrote. "At least one specific claim — allegation #8 regarding the alleged breaching of equipment — has no corroborating public record whatsoever and appears to be either fabricated or drawn from a single hostile and unreliable source."
The attorney accused The Atlantic of having "longstanding animus toward Director Patel" and, upon Patel taking "swift legal action," ordered the magazine to preserve all documents and communications pertaining to his client.
"They were on notice that the claims were categorically false and defamatory. They published anyway. See you in court," Binnall posted on X.
FBI Assistant Director of Public Affairs Ben Williamson, who initially denied the various claims directly to The Atlantic, reacted "This article is a compilation of pretty much every obviously fake rumor I’ve heard the last 14 months except the Atlantic is the only one dumb enough to actually print it."
Patel adviser Erica Knight said The Atlantic published what "every real DC reporter chased, couldn't verify, and passed on," which she asserted were "fabricated stories."
"Lawsuit is being filed," Knight wrote.
Fitzpatrick stood by her reporting even under legal threat.
"I am a very careful, very diligent, award-winning investigative reporter with a history of award-winning work across multiple organizations," Fitzpatrick told MS NOW's Jen Psaki on Friday night. "I stand by every word of this reporting. We have excellent attorneys."
Patel fired back, telling Fitzpatrick, "see you and your entire entourage of false reporting in court ... But do keep at it with the fake news, actual malice standard is now what some would call a legal lay up."
Patel also shared a screenshot of Williamson's emailed response to Fitzpatrick, saying "Top to bottom, this is one of the most absurd things I've ever read."
The Atlantic did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.