FBI Director Kash Patel threatened to file a lawsuit against US publication The Atlantic on Friday after they published what he called a “categorically false” and “defamatory” report on him. Patel’s attorney described the story as a “hit piece” that used claims that were “false, unsourced, and facially defamatory.”
The report in question alleged that the FBI director had been binge drinking on the job and behaving erratically.
It started with an incident that occurred on April 10 when the FBI chief panicked after he struggled to log into an internal computer system. He behaved frantically and began calling aides to announce that he had been fired by the White House.
Two people familiar with the matter described to The Atlantic that his behaviour was a “freak out.”
The reports also alleged that a SWAT team had to once ask for breaching gear after Patel was uncontactable behind a locked door.
Patel’s external advisors have now threatened to sue and attacked the story by publishing attorney Jesse Binnall’s three-page response, which was sent before the article was published.
The response was a point-by-point fact check and a comment on the series of claims in the report.
Binnal wrote that the “vast majority of the claims in the draft article rely solely on vague, unattributed sourcing such as ‘people familiar with the matter’ or ‘some have characterised.’”
Most of the claims they called defamatory were that the director drinks to the point of apparent intoxication. There were also reportedly multiple instances when security and staff were unable to wake him. Many of the sources said that they privately questioned whether Patel’s alcoholism played a role in his sharing inaccurate information following the murder of Charlie Kirk. Patel was also reportedly paranoid that he would lose his job, according to FBI officials. There were also reportedly discussions among senior members in the Trump administration on who would replace him.
The report claimed to source its information from about two dozen people who all described that directors tenure as the FBI head as a management failure and personal behaviour as a national security vulnerability.
On Friday, Patel responded directly to the story saying, “See you and your entire entourage of false reporting in court,” he wrote. “But do keep at it with the fake news, actual malice standard is now what some would call a legal lay-up.”
Why is FBI Director Kash Patel threatening to sue The Atlantic? Report says Trump officials discussed who could replace him
