director of the fbi Kashi Patel Sued The Atlantic for $250 million for defamation caused by an article claiming he had a drinking problem.
Over the weekend, Patel pledged to take legal action over an Atlantic Monthly article titled “Kash Patel’s erratic behavior could cost him his job,” which was published on Friday.
“FBI director warns colleagues over drinking and unexplained absences,” the article’s subtitle said.
Kash Patel’s lawsuit against The Atlantic: 5 things to know
- Patel has filed a 19-page lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, DC. The Atlantic and the civil complaint name the article’s author, Sarah Fitzpatrick, as a defendant. The lawsuit alleges that Patel’s purpose was to hold the defendants “accountable for a widespread, malicious and defamatory hit article.”
- “Defendants are certainly free to criticize FBI leadership, but they crossed a legal line by publishing an article filled with false and patently fabricated allegations designed to damage Director Patel’s reputation and force him to step down,” the lawsuit states.
- The magazine and Fitzpatrick “published the article with actual malice, despite being explicitly warned hours before publication that the primary allegations were categorically false,” the lawsuit said.
- Patel’s lawsuit lists 17 specific assertions made by the article as part of “numerous false and defamatory statements of fact” allegedly made against him.
- The Atlantic’s lawsuit notes that the outlet reported that “last year it requested ‘disruption equipment’ — typically used by SWAT and hostage rescue teams to quickly enter buildings — because Patel was unreachable behind locked doors. “Chief Patel was not intoxicated on these premises or anywhere else, and this was never, and has never been, a matter of concern to the government,” the suit said.
While Patel called The Atlantic’s report a “lie,” the American magazine told CNBC, “We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this baseless lawsuit.”
