Magazine has stood behind the story, which was written by veteran national security reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick
Kash Patel has followed through on a threat to sue the Atlantic and the author of a story the magazine published that included allegations of “excessive drinking” as well as “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences” while in charge of the FBI.
The FBI director filed a defamation lawsuit in US district court for the District of Columbia that seeks $250m in damages.
Patel’s legal team accused the magazine and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick of publishing “a sweeping, malicious and defamatory hit piece” on 17 April.
“Defendants are of course free to criticize the leadership of the FBI, 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 complaint reads. “Indeed, Fitzpatrick could not get a single person to go on the record in defense of these outrageous allegations, instead relying entirely on anonymous sources she knew to be both highly partisan with an ax to grind and also not in a position to know the facts.”
Patel’s lawyers accused the Atlantic of acting with actual malice – the legal standard for winning a defamation lawsuit against a public individual – because they had denied the claims that were to be published in the story. Patel’s representatives have also argued that the Atlantic did not give them enough time to...
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