FBI Director Kash Patel Monday sued The Atlantic magazine for $250 million over an explosive article that detailed claims he regularly drinks too much and his binges have caused serious national security risks.
The article by author Sarah Fitzpatrick, which Patel calls a “malicious hit piece,” quoted two dozen colleagues and witnesses about Patel’s “bouts of excessive drinking” and behavior including “both conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences.”
The story said Patel’s behavior has alarmed officials at the FBI and Department of Justice and that he desperately fears being fired by President Trump, who doesn’t drink and distrusts heavy drinkers.
Patel, who chugged beer while celebrating the U.S. national ice hockey teams Olympic gold medal in Italy, filed the suit in federal district court in Washington, D.C.
He denied the allegations of drunken behavior and criticized the magazine for relying on anonymous sources.
“Defendants cannot evade responsibility for their malicious lies by hiding behind sham sources,” the lawsuit said.
The Atlantic said it stands by the story and expects what it calls the “meritless lawsuit” to be dismissed.
Fitzpatrick wrote that she interviewed more than two dozen people about Patel and granted them anonymity to “discuss sensitive information and private conversations.”
The article claimed that he “is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication, in many cases at the private club Ned’s in Washington, D.C., while in the presence of White House and other administration staff,” and that he “drinks to excess at the Poodle Room in Las Vegas, where he frequently spends parts of his weekends.”
Several times, Patel’s security detail “had difficulty waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated,” the article said. It also reported that a “request for ‘breaching equipment’ — normally used by SWAT and hostage-rescue teams to quickly gain entry into buildings — was made last year because Patel had been unreachable behind locked doors.”
The article also said Patel lost his cool this month when he was unable to log into his official email account and thought he had been abruptly fired.
In reality, Patel’s email access was restricted due to a fairly routine technical glitch that was quickly rectified.
Patel, 46, was one of the most controversial appointments of Trump’s second term. A far right-wing media figure, he had scant law enforcement experience compared to what would normally be considered appropriate for the powerful post.