FBI Director Kash Patel vows to take The Atlantic to court over ‘defamatory’ report
FBI Director Kash Patel is vowing to take The Atlantic to court over a bombshell report published Friday evening that he says is filled with defamatory claims.
“Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court — bring your checkbook,” Patel told The Atlantic in a statement included in the report.
The story, titled, “The FBI Director is MIA,” outlined several explosive allegations, including instances of “erratic” behavior, “excessive drinking” and “unexplained absences.”
The first claim alleged Patel had a “freak-out” over a tech issue earlier this month when attempting to log into a computer system, believing he was being fired by President Donald Trump following Attorney General Pam Bondi’s ouster and had to prep an announcement. The Atlantic cited nine unnamed sources familiar with the incident.
“But Patel, according to multiple current officials, as well as former officials who have stayed close to him, is deeply concerned that his job is in jeopardy. He has good reasons to think so — including some having to do with what witnesses described to me as bouts of excessive drinking,” The Atlantic staff writer Sarah Fitzpatrick told readers before citing past reports of rumors that Patel was also on the chopping block.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Atlantic in a statement that Patel “remains a critical player on the Administration’s law and order team.” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche also threw his support behind the FBI Director, telling Fitzpatrick, “Patel has accomplished more in 14 months than the previous administration did in four years. Anonymously sourced hit pieces do not constitute journalism.”
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“The IT-lockout episode is emblematic of Patel’s tumultuous tenure as director of the FBI: He is erratic, suspicious of others, and prone to jumping to conclusions before he has necessary evidence, according to the more than two dozen people I interviewed about Patel’s conduct, including current and former FBI officials, staff at law-enforcement and intelligence agencies, hospitality-industry workers, members of Congress, political operatives, lobbyists, and former advisers,” Fitzpatrick wrote.
“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,” she continued.
The report alleged that Patel has a pattern of “conspicuous inebriation” and that “he is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication,” which it said often took place at Ned’s private club in Washington, D.C. “in the presence of White House and other administration staff” and the Poodle Room in Las Vegas.
“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,” Fitzpatrick wrote. “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.”