FBI Director Kash Patel threatened to file a lawsuit against The Atlantic Friday over a “categorically false and defamatory” report alleging “bouts of excessive drinking” have negatively impacted his leadership of the bureau.
The “hit piece,” as Patel’s lawyer described the story, claims the FBI director’s “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences” have “alarmed” Justice Department and bureau officials – and in one alleged instance resulted in his security detail requesting “breaching equipment” to get him out of a locked room.
“Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court — bring your checkbook,” Patel said in a statement included in the piece.
Jesse Binnall, the FBI director’s attorney, shared a letter on X that was sent to journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick before her story was published asserting that “most” of the “substantive claims” about Patel in the piece were “false, unsourced, and facially defamatory.”
“They were on notice that the claims were categorically false and defamatory. They published anyway,” Binnall wrote.
He added, “See you in court.”
Binnall notes the “vast majority of the claims in the draft article rely solely on vague, unattributed sourcing such as ‘people familiar with the matter’ or ‘some have characterized.’”
The lawyer specifically called out an allegation that Patel’s security detail had so much difficulty waking him after a night of drinking that they requested “breaching equipment” to get into his locked room.
Binnall said the allegations...
In a post on X, Ghalibaf said, “The President of the United States made seven claims in one hour, all seven of which were false.” - رئیس جمهور آمریکا در یک ساعت هفت ادعا مطرح کرد که هر هفت ادعا ...