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FBI Director Kash Patel said Sunday that he plans to file a defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic following a report about his conduct and leadership at the FBI.
“Absolutely. It’s coming tomorrow,” Patel said on “Sunday Morning Futures” when asked about legal action during an interview with host Maria Bartiromo.
Patel said he would sue for defamation and pledged to “fight back against the fake news.”
The Atlantic story, published Friday under the headline “The FBI Director Is MIA,” cited more than two dozen sources, including current and former FBI officials, members of Congress and others. Reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick wrote that those interviewed “described Patel’s tenure as a management failure and his personal behavior as a national-security vulnerability.”
The report alleged that Patel consumed alcohol “to the point of obvious intoxication” in front of administration officials and that, on multiple occasions, members of his security detail “had difficulty waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated.”
“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,” Jesse Binnall, an attorney representing Patel, 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,” Binnall added.
Administration officials also disputed the claims. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche both defended Patel in statements to the magazine.
Blanche said the FBI director “has accomplished more in 14 months than the previous administration did in four years.”
Patel also responded on social media, writing, “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.”
Fitzpatrick said she spoke with more than two dozen people “familiar with Patel’s conduct” and noted that Patel denied the allegations when presented with detailed questions, responding: “Print it, all false. I’ll see you in court — bring your checkbook.”
