Kash Patel has followed through on a threat to sue the Atlantic and the author of a story the magazine published that included allegations of “excessive drinking” as well as “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences” while in charge of the FBI.
The FBI director filed a defamation lawsuit in US district court for the District of Columbia that seeks $250m in damages.
Patel’s legal team accused the magazine and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick of publishing “a sweeping, malicious and defamatory hit piece” on 17 April.
“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 – because they had denied the claims that were to be published in the story. Patel’s representatives have also argued that the Atlantic did not give them enough time to respond.
“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 Atlantic said.
The action represents only the latest example of the combative relationship between the Trump administration and the press, with lawsuits flying in both directions.
Jesse R Binnall, a lawyer representing Patel, had sent a three-page, pre-publication letter threatening a lawsuit to Fitzpatrick, a veteran national security correspondent, and compelling her to retain her communications relevant to the story.
The article published a promise from Patel that a lawsuit would follow publication: “Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court – bring your checkbook.”
Erica Knight, a spokesperson for Patel, claimed in a post on X that other reporters had passed on rumors about Patel and his alleged inappropriate behavior.
Despite the threats, Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of the Atlantic, stood by the deeply sourced story, saying in a statement over the weekend: “We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel.” Fitzpatrick said the same in an appearance on MS NOW, telling anchor Jen Psaki, “The Atlantic is nothing but diligent. We have amazing lawyers, amazing editors, and I stand by every word.”
The Atlantic’s story had cited “six current and former officials and others familiar with Patel’s schedule” to report that, early in his tenure at the FBI, “meetings and briefings had to be rescheduled for later in the day as a result of his alcohol-fueled nights.”
In the lawsuit, Patel’s team denied that he drinks “to excess” and that anyone in government is concerned about it.
“This is not negligence,” they wrote in the complaint. “It demonstrates a deliberate and malicious smear.”
In a post on X, Binnall, Patel’s lawyer, wrote: “Defamatory speech is not free speech, and it is an honor to represent Kash Patel in this lawsuit seeking accountability for The Atlantic article’s malicious falsehoods.”