FBI Director Kash Patel sues The Atlantic over excess drinking article

by · UPI

April 20 (UPI) -- FBI Director Kash Patel sued The Atlantic on Monday, seeking $250 million in damages over the publication's article last week alleging he has a history of alcohol abuse.

He filed the lawsuit naming both The Atlantic and the article's author, Sarah Fitzpatrick, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia one day after announcing his intentions to do so. The lawsuit called the article a "sweeping, malicious and defamatory hit piece."

"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 lawsuit read.

The Atlantic published an article Friday with the headline "The FBI Director is MIA" and the subheading, "Kash Patel has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences." The article was based on conversations with at least nine unnamed officials -- current and former -- at the FBI.

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Patel's lawsuit listed 17 of the allegations, disputing their veracity. Among them, that he is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication, including in front of White House officials; that he was known to drink to excess at the Poodle Room social club in Las Vegas; that his security detail had difficulty waking him at times because of his seeming intoxication; and that they had to request breaching equipment to reach him behind locked doors.

Patel, in a statement, said "The Atlantic's story is a lie." He said his office warned The Atlantic that its article was false before it published.

"They were given the truth before they published, and they chose to print falsehoods anyway," he said. "I took this job to protect the American people and this FBI has delivered the most prolific reduction in crime in U.S. history. Fake news won't report it, and their toxicity will never erode nor stop our mission."

In a statement posted on X, The Atlantic said, "We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit."

This week in Washington

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks during a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies hearing on the budget for the Department of Health and Human Services in the Rayburn House Office Building near the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo