Kash Patel sues The Atlantic over story claiming he often drunk or missing at work

Last week, The Atlantic published a bombshell story about Kashyap "Ka$h" Patel's dismal tenure as FBI Director, writing that insiders there say he is sometimes missing, always paranoid and often drunk. Today Patel sued the magazine, claiming libel and $250m in damages.

From Sarah Fitzpatrick's article:

Several officials told me that Patel's drinking has been a recurring source of concern across the government. They said that he is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication, in many cases at the private club Ned's in Washington, D.C., while in the presence of White House and other administration staff. He is also known to drink to excess at the Poodle Room, in Las Vegas, where he frequently spends parts of his weekends. 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.

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. A request for "breaching equipment"—normally used by SWAT and hostage-rescue teams to quickly gain entry into buildings—was made last year because Patel had been unreachable behind locked doors, according to multiple people familiar with the request.

Patel had threatened to sue if they published ("Print it, all false, I'll see you in court—bring your checkbook.") and followed through after the weekend. The lawsuit, filed with the Washington D.C. district court also names Fitzpatrick. It's not been made available to read, yet, but The Guardian has some quotes from it.

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," the complaint reads. "Indeed, Fitzpatrick could not get a single person to go on the record in defense of these outrageous allegations, instead relying entirely on anonymous sources she knew to be both highly partisan with an ax to grind and also not in a position to know the facts."

Patel's lawyers accused the Atlantic of acting with actual malice – the legal standard for winning a defamation lawsuit against a public individual.

Previously:
• Trump's FBI raids Georgia election center to seize 2020 ballots
• Iran has hacked Kash Patel's personal email
• Kash Patel confirms FBI buys your data instead of getting a warrant