FBI Director Kash Patel sues The Atlantic claiming false reporting about drinking, absences
FBI Director Kash Patel filed a defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic and its reporter, Sarah Fitzpatrick, following the publication of an article
An illustrative image related to: FBI Director Kash Patel sues The Atlantic claiming false reporting about drinking, absences, highlighting key aspects of the story. | Image source: Geo News
FBI Director Kash Patel sues The Atlantic claiming false reporting about drinking, absences
FBI Director Kash Patel filed a defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic and its reporter, Sarah Fitzpatrick, following the publication of an article on Friday alleging the director had a drinking problem that could pose a security concern to national protection.
The magazine's story, initially titled “Kash Patel's Erratic Behaviour Could Cost Him His Job," cited more than two dozen anonymous sources expressing concern at Patel’s “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences” that “alarmed representatives at the FBI and the Division of Fairness.”
The article, which The Atlantic subsequently titled “The FBI Director Is MIA” in its online version, documented that during Patel’s tenure, the FBI had to reschedule early meetings “as a result of his alcohol-fueled nights” and that Patel “is often away or unreachable, delaying time-sensitive decisions needed to advance investigations.”
In The Atlantic's story, the White House, the Division of Fairness and Patel refuted the allegations. The article included a comment from the FBI attributed to Patel, “Print it, all false, I’ll see you in judiciary, bring your checkbook.”
“The Atlantic's story is a lie,” Patel stated in an interview with Reuters . “They were given the truth before they published, and they chose to print falsehoods anyway.”
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