Patel sues Atlantic over report on job performance, alcohol use

FBI Director Kash Patel sued The Atlantic Monday after the magazine published explosive reporting detailing the director was fearful of losing his job and struggled to be reached after nights of excessive drinking.

The magazine published a story on Friday titled “The FBI Director Is MIA,” citing conversations with more than two dozen people, including current and former FBI officials, members of Congress, hospitality industry workers and others. 

The suit argues that the sources of the article were “not in a position to know the facts” and that the story was part of a broader smear campaign against the director.

“The Article itself reveals that Defendants understood their sources were animated by hostility. Defendants relied on ‘former advisers’ and ‘political operatives’—categories of sources with obvious axes to grind,” the defamation suit states.

“They refused a reasonable request for additional time to respond to nineteen detailed, albeit ridiculous, allegations. They ignored a detailed pre-publication letter from counsel identifying specific falsehoods and supplying counter-evidence. And they never interviewed Director Patel himself or gave him any meaningful opportunity to address the charges in his own words. This is not negligence. It demonstrates a deliberate and malicious smear.”

The suit in some ways reads like a press release, touting Patel’s record as FBI director by citing crime statistics and the capture of fugitives.

The Atlantic on Monday called the suit meritless.

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

The outlet reported that while in charge of the bureau, Patel has consumed alcohol “to the point of obvious intoxication” in front of White House officials and other Trump administration staff. On multiple occasions within the past year, members of his security detail have also “had difficulty waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated,” The Atlantic reported.

“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,” reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick wrote.

The suit follows through on a threat from Patel to sue the media company.

“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,” he wrote on the social media platform X on Friday.

Dominick Mastrangelo contributed to this report.

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