FBI Director Kash Patel filed a defamation lawsuit on Monday against The Atlantic after it published an article last week claiming he has been drinking heavily and was frequently absent at work.
The 19-page lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and included the author of the piece, Sarah Fitzpatrick, as a defendant.
Patel is seeking $250 million in damages.
“Kashyap P. Patel, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, brings this lawsuit to hold Defendants The Atlantic Monthly Group LLC and its staff writer, Sarah Fitzpatrick, accountable for a sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece published on April 17, 2026,” the lawsuit read.
“Defendants are of course free to criticize the leadership of the FBI,” it continued. “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.”
The legal filing highlighted how Fitzpatrick relied on unnamed sources and “could not get a single person to go on the record in defense of these outrageous allegations.” Instead she relied on anonymous officials whom she knew “to be both highly partisan with an ax to grind and also not in a position to know the facts,” the document read.
“Defendants published the Article with actual malice,” the lawsuit said. “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.”
The article in question was titled “The FBI Director Is MIA” and had a caption underneath which read, “Kash Patel has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”
The Atlantic posted a message on the social media site X on Monday morning in response to Patel’s litigation, doubling down on their story.
“We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit.”
Statement from The Atlantic: pic.twitter.com/ZoIldjSbzl
— The Atlantic Communications (@TheAtlanticPR) April 20, 2026
Patel and his attorneys feel they have a strong case, however, and listed various alleged infractions throughout the filing.
It cited several instances where The Atlantic showed bias toward Patel in the past and argued that the outlet has a “pre-existing animus” toward the official.
“AMG, through The Atlantic, has for months pursued a demonstrable editorial campaign to damage Director Patel’s reputation and force him from office,” the lawsuit added. “Prior to the publication at issue, The Atlantic reported that Director Patel was ‘on the chopping block,’ signaling an editorial predisposition to cast his tenure as failing.”
The filing went on to state that the magazine’s conduct toward Patel “is part of a broader and well documented pattern. Numerous Atlantic pieces over the past two years have characterized Director Patel as unqualified, dangerous, corrupt, or mentally unstable.”
It also said the April 17 article was originally headlined: “Kash Patel’s Erratic Behavior Could Cost Him His Job,” with the sub-headline, “The FBI director has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”
At least 17 major claims made in the article were outlined in the filing and rejected one by one. Several allegations about Patel drinking to the point of intoxication in front of White House staff were the main focus.
It slammed the claim that Patel “is also known to drink to excess at the Poodle Room in Las Vegas, where he frequently spends parts of his weekends.”
In addition, Patel’s lawyers refuted allegations that he had rescheduled meetings for later in the day due to his alcohol consumption and that members of his security detail had difficulty with him because he was heavily intoxicated.
Moreover, the suit pushed back on the assertion that Patel “panicked, frantically” earlier this month “calling aides and allies to announce that he had been fired by the White House,” and that his behavior was a “freak-out.”
“Defendants published the statements knowingly, intentionally, willfully, wantonly, and maliciously, with intent to harm Director Patel, or in blatant disregard for the substantial likelihood of causing him harm,” the document concluded.
“Defendants’ statements have directly and proximately caused Director Patel to suffer actual damages, including harm to his reputation. These damages were foreseeable.”
This isn’t the first lawsuit Patel has filed against a member of the mainstream media.
Back in June, the FBI director sued MSNBC contributor and columnist Frank Figliuzzi over claims that Patel was spending more time partying in nightclubs than working at the bureau’s headquarters.
CBS News reported that the case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas and is still pending.
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