Kash Patel recordsdata $250M defamation lawsuit towards The Atlantic over ‘hit piece’ on his FBI management

FBI director Kash Patel has filed a lawsuit against The Atlantic and journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick over what his lawyers have labeled a “sweeping, malicious and defamatory hit piece” about his leadership at the agency.

A profile published over the weekend characterized Patel as a deeply paranoid figure prone to drinking to excess. His alleged behavior has alarmed officials at the law enforcement agency and across Donald Trump’s administration.

“Defendants are of course free to criticize the leadership of the FBI, but they crossed the legal line by publishing an article replete with false and obviously fabricated allegations designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office,” according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Washington, D.C.

The suit is seeking “compensatory, special, and punitive damages” no less than $250 million, as well as the “disgorgement of all income Defendants have earned by virtue of their lies about Director Patel.”

“We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit,” the outlet said in a statement to The Independent.

The Atlantic reports that Patel’s FBI colleagues have grown increasingly alarmed with the director’s alleged pattern of unexplained absences and excessive drinking in Washington, D.C., and in his home city of Las Vegas, violations of FBI conduct standards that could potentially leave the nation’s top law enforcement official vulnerable to coercion or exploitation.

Patel’s drinking has also reportedly angered the president, whose brother died from alcoholism-related health issues. Trump allegedly called Patel after the director was seen chugging beer with members of the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team in widely shared footage on social media.

The report, which relied on interviews with more than two dozen people familiar with Patel’s conduct, said senior members of the Trump administration are discussing Patel’s potential replacement.

Fitzpatrick also told CNN that White House insiders have discussed Patel’s potential ousting, which would follow the president’s decision to fire now-former Attorney General Pam Bondi and demote former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to a “special envoy” role in recent weeks.

“People close to the director have said that he himself has expressed that he believes that he is about to be fired or that is imminent,” she told the network. “This is widely, widely discussed, I think, within Washington, behind closed doors. In fact, there are senior administration officials who are openly discussing who will be the next FBI director.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt did not directly address the allegations but touted Patel’s leadership at the FBI in a previous statement to The Independent. Patel “remains a critical player on the Administration’s law and order team,” she said.

Patel’s lawsuit dedicates more than a page to his credentials and “results” at the FBI following his 15-month tenure, where he has faced intense scrutiny over efforts to radically realign the agency to support the president’s agenda. He has also faced criticism for his role in the handling of federal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and over the use of federal resources for personal travel.

The lawsuit specifically mentions more than a dozen sentences in the article that Patel claims are defamatory — including allegations that he is “known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication” and that meetings are often rescheduled after his “alcohol-fueled nights.”

The claims of “erratic behavior and excessive drinking are fabricated,” according to the complaint.

The lawsuit accuses The Atlantic’s of not giving Patel enough time to respond or considering his “detailed, specific and substantive” refutations.

“Memo to the fake news — the only time I’ll ever actually be concerned about the hit piece lies you write about me will be when you stop,” Patel wrote Saturday on X. “Keep talking, it means I’m doing exactly what I should be doing. And no amount of BS you write will ever deter this FBI from making America safe again and taking down the criminals you love.”

He told Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday that “we are not going to take this lying down.”

“You want to attack my character? Come at me. Bring it on. I’ll see you in court,” he added.

Source: independent.co.uk