{"id":5674,"date":"2026-04-18T04:14:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T04:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=5674"},"modified":"2026-04-18T04:14:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T04:14:05","slug":"fbi-director-kash-patel-threatens-to-sue-the-atlantic-over-categorically-false-report-alleging-excessive-drinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=5674","title":{"rendered":"FBI Director Kash Patel threatens to sue The Atlantic over &#8216;categorically false&#8217; report alleging excessive drinking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>FBI Director Kash Patel threatened to file a lawsuit against The Atlantic Friday over a \u201ccategorically false and defamatory\u201d report alleging \u201cbouts of excessive drinking\u201d have negatively impacted his leadership of the bureau.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The \u201chit piece,\u201d as Patel\u2019s lawyer described the story, claims the FBI director\u2019s \u201cconspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences\u201d have \u201calarmed\u201d Justice Department and bureau officials \u2013 and in one alleged instance resulted in his security detail requesting \u201cbreaching equipment\u201d to get him out of a locked room.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrint it, all false, I\u2019ll see you in court \u2014 bring your checkbook,\u201d Patel said in a statement included in the piece.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Patel plans to sue The Atlantic over the piece.  <span class=\"credit\">ZUMAPRESS.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Jesse Binnall, the FBI director\u2019s attorney, shared a letter on X that was sent to journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick before her story was published asserting that \u201cmost\u201d of the\u00a0\u201csubstantive claims\u201d about Patel in the piece were \u201cfalse, unsourced, and facially defamatory.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were on notice that the claims were categorically false and defamatory. They published anyway,\u201d Binnall wrote.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>He added, \u201cSee you in court.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Binnall notes the \u201cvast majority of the claims in the draft article rely solely on vague, unattributed sourcing such as \u2018people familiar with the matter\u2019 or \u2018some have characterized.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The lawyer specifically called out an allegation that Patel\u2019s security detail had so much difficulty waking him after a night of drinking that they\u00a0requested \u201cbreaching equipment\u201d to get into his locked room.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Binnall said the allegations \u201chas no corroborating public record whatsoever and appears to be either fabricated or drawn from a single hostile and unreliable source.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA reasonable and responsible pre-publication investigation, including a simple request to the FBI for relevant documentary evidence, would have quickly disproven this claim and many of the others,\u201d he argued.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Fitzpatrick, the author of the piece, said she stood by her reporting. <span class=\"credit\">linkedin\/sarahfitzpatrick<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Patel\u2019s lawyer shared a letter he sent The Atlantic before the \u201chit piece\u201d was published.  <span class=\"credit\">X\/jbinnall<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Erica Knight, the FBI director\u2019s communication strategist, described the story as one \u201cevery real DC reporter chased, couldn\u2019t verify, and passed on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Atlantic\u2019s \u2018reporting\u2019? Fabricated stories about \u2018breaching equipment\u2019 that was never requested. Intoxication claims with not a single witness willing to put their name on one. A paragraph \u2014 I\u2019m not kidding \u2014 about the FBI Store not carrying \u2018intimidating enough\u2019 merchandise,\u201d Knight wrote on X. \u201cEvery serious DC reporter passed on this. Sarah Fitzpatrick and Jeffrey Goldberg printed it anyway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLawsuit is being filed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In an interview on MS NOW,\u00a0Fitzpatrick maintained that she stood by her reporting.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 728px 160px; gap:2px; width:908px; background:#eee; padding:2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u901a\u680f\u9876\u90e8\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u6a2a\u5e45 908x258 \u8de8\u6574\u884c -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:258px; background:#ff6b6b; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114307\" data-width=\"908\" data-height=\"258\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114307});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u7b2c\u4e8c\u901a\u680f\uff1a728\u00d790 \u901a\u680f -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; 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height:600px;  display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114301\" data-width=\"160\" data-height=\"600\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114301});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/18\/us-news\/fbi-director-kash-patel-threatens-to-sue-the-atlantic-over-categorically-false-report-alleging-excessive-drinking\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FBI Director Kash Patel threatened to file a lawsuit against The Atlantic Friday over a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[349],"tags":[6506,6154,6505,1190,6280,3876,2888,787,2913,6504,935,4102,820],"class_list":["post-5674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-alleging","tag-atlantic","tag-categorically","tag-director","tag-drinking","tag-excessive","tag-false","tag-fbi","tag-kash","tag-patel","tag-report","tag-sue","tag-threatens"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/125882121.jpg",1200,799,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/125882121-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/125882121-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/125882121-768x511.jpg",640,426,true],"large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/125882121-1024x682.jpg",640,426,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/125882121.jpg",1200,799,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/125882121.jpg",1200,799,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/125882121-1115x715.jpg",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/125882121-800x500.jpg",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/125882121-1024x682.jpg",1024,682,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/125882121-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/125882121-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?cat=349\" rel=\"category\">Blog<\/a>","tag_info":"Blog","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}