As he said he would on Sunday morning, FBI Director Kash Patel filed a defamation case against The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick this morning over a story that characterizes him as an incompetent drunk who is jeopardizing national security. We talked about the contents of the article and Patel’s reaction here.
The civil lawsuit alleges just one count of defamation over publication of the article. To prevail, Patel would have to prove that false statements were made about him with “reckless disregard” for their truth. In a normal defamation case, the plaintiff need only show negligence, but because Patel is a public figure, he must meet the higher burden of showing that the defendants published the article either with knowledge it contained false statements, or with reckless disregard for their truthfulness.
The complaint starts by touting Patel’s virtues as director, including claims that he has overseen the capture of eight of the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted fugitives and more than 40,000 violent crime arrests, which the complaint says reflects a 112% increase in violent crime arrests. The 40,000 number seems quite high, and of course arrests aren’t the same as the number of people subsequently indicted and convicted. But this complaint seems designed for the audience of one that controls whether Patel stays on as FBI director. So we get a full recitation of work Patel claims as his own, like locating 6,300 child victims and arresting more than 2,200 child predators, a...
Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP advises e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE: ELF) investors that the firm is investigating potential legal claims arising from alleged false statements about the strength ...