FBI Director Kash Patel filed a lawsuit Complaint Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against The Atlantic magazine and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick is seeking $250 million in damages over a story alleging he “alarmed colleagues through episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”
The lawsuit is targeting April 17th Article Headlined “Kash Patel’s erratic behavior could cost him his job,” it was reported that Patel had been drinking to the point of apparent intoxication at private clubs in Washington and Las Vegas, that official meetings had been postponed until drunken evenings, and that his security detail had struggled to wake him on several occasions. Patel filed the lawsuit as an individual and a resident of Nevada.
The complaint called the article a “sweeping, malicious and defamatory hit” and alleged that it falsely portrayed Patel as “a habitual drunk who is unable to discharge his official duties” and “vulnerable to foreign coercion.”
Patel’s attorney, Jesse Binnall, sent a letter to The Atlantic before publication denying 19 allegations in the article. The lawsuit alleged that The Atlantic gave the FBI less than two hours to respond before the deadline and still published the lawsuit, which it said was “among the strongest possible evidence of actual malice.”
The Atlantic said Monday that it stands by its reporting and will vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit. No trial date has been set.
To prevail in a defamation lawsuit, a public figure must prove that a publisher actually acted with malice, which is defined as knowledge of untruth or reckless disregard for the truth. The Supreme Court set the standard in a famous case New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.
