FBI director Kash Patel is possibly preparing to sue The Atlantic following its recent report about his alleged excessive drinking and unexplained absences.
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In a late Friday post on X, Patel unleashed on The Atlantic. “See you and your entire entourage of false reporting in court…”
“But do keep at it with the fake news,” he pushed. “Actual malice standard is now what some would call a legal lay up.”
Hours before the threat of legal action was made, The Atlantic published the report titled The FBI Director Is MIA. Reporter, Sarah Fitzpatrick, shares details from conversations she had with more than two dozen people about Patel’s behavior.
“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 wrote.
Fitzpatrick shared that Patel is known “to drink to the point of obvious intoxication” in front of White House and other Trump administration officials. It was also revealed that members of Patel’s security detail had difficulty waking him because he was “seemingly intoxicated.”
Patel was allegedly convinced that he had been “locked out” after he struggled to log into an internal FBI computer system in early April. He then “panicked, frantically calling aides and allies to announce that the White House had fired him.”
Two people Fitzpatrick spoke to described the moment as a “freak-out.”
Patel recently faced public scrutiny. He was seen chugging beers with Team USA Men’s Hockey players following their gold-medal win over Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Patel Fires Back at the Media About ‘Hit Lies Pieces’ on Him
On Saturday, Patel took to X once again to warn the media.
“Memo to the fake news,” he wrote. “The only time I’ll ever actually be concerned about the hit piece lies you write about me will be when you stop. Keep talking, it means I’m doing exactly what I should be doing.”
“And no amount of BS you write will ever deter this FBI from making America safe again,” he noted. “And taking down the criminals you love.”
Jesse Binnall, Patel’s attorney, also issued a statement. “They were on notice that the claims were categorically false and defamatory,” Binnall stated. “They published anyway.”
Fitzpatrick has since defended her report. While appearing on MS NOW, she told former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, “These are not the types of people who are willing to speak out outside of the FBI, especially right now, because Kash Patel is going after people with polygraphs in a way that has never happened at the Bureau.”
“So for it to be this level of alarm,” she stated. “This is people genuinely concerned that America is a danger as a result of this conduct.
She then added, “I feel, you know, a real responsibility to take care of that reporting incredibly carefully.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended Patel in a statement to The Atlantic.
Blanche stated Patel has “accomplished more in 14 months than the previous administration did in four years.”