Patel says he’ll sue Atlantic for defamation over report on heavy drinking

FBI Director Kash Patel said Sunday that he will sue The Atlantic for defamation after the magazine published a Friday story detailing his alleged drinking habits and absences from the bureau.

“Absolutely. It’s coming tomorrow,” he told host Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” about the forthcoming lawsuit.

The FBI director later said he would sue for defamation and vowed to “fight back against the fake news.”

The magazine published a story on Friday titled “The FBI Director Is MIA,” citing conversations with more than two dozen people, including current and former FBI officials, members of Congress, hospitality industry workers and others.

“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,” reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick wrote.

Fitzpatrick wrote that while in charge of the bureau, Patel has consumed alcohol “to the point of obvious intoxication” in front of White House officials and other Trump administration staff. On multiple occasions within the past year, members of his security detail have also “had difficulty waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated,” The Atlantic reported.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche both defended Patel in statements to The Atlantic, with Blanche saying that the FBI director “has accomplished more in 14 months than the previous administration did in four years.”

“See you and your entire entourage of false reporting in court… But do keep at it with the fake news, actual malice standard is now what some would call a legal lay up,” Patel wrote on the social platform X late Friday night, regarding the piece.

Fitzpatrick wrote on X on Friday that she spoke to two dozen people “familiar with Patel’s conduct” for the story.

She added that in response to 19 “detailed” questions, Patel responded, “Print it, all false. I’ll see you in court — bring your checkbook.”