The FBI director said in a Monday complaint that the publication published an article despite being warned about ‘categorically false’ claims.
FBI Director Kash Patel on Monday filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic and its staff writer Sarah Fitzpatrick over an article, alleging its claims were false.
In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Patel stated the magazine and Fitzpatrick “published the Article with actual malice, despite being expressly warned, hours before publication, that the central allegations were categorically false,” also “despite having abundant publicly available information contradicting those allegations,” and “despite obvious and fatal defects in their own sourcing.”
The Atlantic article by Fitzpatrick, which cited anonymous sources, claimed Patel allegedly drank in excess and that his colleagues were concerned. At one point, Fitzpatrick wrote that “multiple current officials” and “former officials who have stayed close to him” were concerned about the alleged drinking, also claiming that President Donald Trump is seeking to replace him following the ouster of former Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The lawsuit stated that the defendants’ “conscious decision to ignore the detailed, specific, and substantive refutations in the Pre-Publication Letter, and their refusal to give a reasonable amount of time for the FBI and Director Patel to respond, is among the strongest possible evidence of actual malice.”
According to the lawsuit, his lawyers said that The Atlantic has a “documented, long-running editorial animus” against the FBI director. “Defendants cannot evade responsibility for their malicious lies by hiding behind sham sources,” they added.
The Epoch Times reached out to The Atlantic for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
Actual malice is a legal standard that requires public figures such as Patel to argue that a publisher knowingly published false information or ignored concerns about its accuracy.
The standard, established in a landmark 1964 Supreme Court decision, also effectively holds public officials or figures to a higher standard when they file defamation lawsuits.
In an April 17 post on X, Fitzpatrick defended her reporting and said she spoke with two dozen people who are “familiar with Patel’s conduct” before publishing the story.
She also said that in response to “19 detailed questions,” Patel allegedly responded, “Print it, all false. I’ll see you in court – bring your checkbook.”
The magazine’s story was initially titled “Kash Patel’s Erratic Behavior Could Cost Him His Job,“ but it was later changed to ”The FBI Director Is MIA,” according to the complaint.
The Epoch Times could not immediately verify the claims contained within the article or why The Atlantic changed the headline of the report.
