FBI Director Kash Patel hit back at The Atlantic with a $250 million defamation lawsuit on Monday, claiming an article that talked about mismanagement at the agency and his alleged drinking was false and a “malicious hit piece.”
In the article, posted on the magazine’s website Friday, author Sarah Fitzpatrick said Patel is deeply concerned about losing his job and that “he has good reasons to think so — including some having to do with what witnesses described to me as bouts of excessive drinking.” Fitzpatrick was also named as a defendant.
Patel described as pivotal for Trump White House
The White House told The Atlantic that Patel remains a critical player on President Donald Trump’s law and order team and credited him for decreases in the crime rate. Trump’s team is also said to be pleased by Patel’s willingness to go after the president’s rivals.
Patel, in the lawsuit filed in district court in Washington, denied the allegations of his behavior and criticized the magazine for relying on anonymous sources. Fitzpatrick wrote that she interviewed more than two dozen people and granted them anonymity to “discuss sensitive information and private conversations.”
“Defendants cannot evade responsibility for their malicious lies by hiding behind sham sources,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit said Patel’s lawyers asked The Atlantic for more time to respond to accusations but the magazine did not reply. “It is among the strongest possible evidence of actual malice,” it said.
With his lawsuit, Patel is following a playbook used by Trump to fight back against allegedly fake stories. Last week, a judge in Florida dismissed Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal over its report about a birthday greeting he had sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Last September, another judge dismissed Trump’s $15 billion lawsuit against The New York Times and some reporters for a story critical of the president’s businesses. Trump was allowed to file an amended lawsuit, which he did.
Trump also sued CBS News and ABC News before taking office again for his second term. Both of those news organizations paid a settlement out of court to Trump before the cases could go to trial.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.