FBI Director Kash Patel files $250 million lawsuit against The Atlantic over 'defamatory hit piece'
Atlantic piece alleged Patel partakes in excessive drinking, absences
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FBI Director Kash Patel filed a $250 million lawsuit on Monday against The Atlantic over a piece published Friday alleging he has alarmed colleagues with excessive drinking, erratic behavior and frequent absences.
The Atlantic published a piece on Friday, headlined, "The FBI Director Is MIA," which cited multiple anonymous sources telling the outlet that the FBI director had an "emotional outburst" related to difficulty logging into a computer system, has had "bouts of excessive drinking" and been absent enough to prompt security concerns.
The lawsuit states The Atlantic, and its staff writer, Sarah Fitzpatrick, must be held "accountable for a sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece published on April 17, 2026."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It continued, "Defendants are of course free to criticize the leadership of the FBI, but they crossed the legal line by publishing an article replete with false and obviously fabricated allegations designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office."
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel arrives to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on September 16, 2025 in Washington, DC (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Fitzpatrick reported, among other claims, that Patel has been difficult to wake up by his security team on multiple occasions because he was seemingly intoxicated.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Patel vowed over the weekend to sue The Atlantic for the story.
The suit states, "Defendants published the Article with actual malice, despite being expressly warned, hours before publication, that the central allegations were categorically false; despite having abundant publicly available information contradicting those allegations; despite obvious and fatal defects in their own sourcing; despite The Atlantic’s welldocumented, long-running editorial animus toward Director Patel; despite a request for additional time to respond that Defendants refused to honor."
FBI Director Kash Patel stands silently during a press conference on Oct. 23, 2025, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Patel took aim at the hit piece in a post to X on Saturday.
"Memo to the fake news - 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 and taking down the criminals you love," Patel wrote.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Patel made an announcement Sunday during an appearance on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," where he directly confirmed his intent to pursue legal action against the publication.
"Absolutely, it’s coming tomorrow," Patel said when asked about whether he would officially file a lawsuit.
Fox News Digital has reached out to The Atlantic for comment on the lawsuit.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Atlantic in a statement that Patel "remains a critical player on the Administration’s law and order team." Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche also threw his support behind the FBI Director, telling Fitzpatrick, "Patel has accomplished more in 14 months than the previous administration did in four years. Anonymously sourced hit pieces do not constitute journalism."
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