FBI Director Kash Patel gestures whereas he testifies earlier than a Senate Judiciary Committee listening to on oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 16, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel mentioned Sunday he’ll sue The Atlantic journal for defamation over a brand new article reporting that he continuously drinks alcohol to extra.
Patel mentioned on Fox Information’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that he would file the lawsuit on Monday.
“We’re not going to take this mendacity down,” Patel mentioned. “You wish to assault my character? Come at me, deliver it on. I am going to see you in court docket.”
Pressed if he was planning to sue the journal, Patel mentioned, “Completely, it is coming tomorrow.”
“We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel,” Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg mentioned in a press release to CNBC.
On Friday, the journal printed an in depth article citing greater than two-dozen sources that made bombshell claims about Patel’s habits.
The sources instructed the journal that Patel continuously drinks to the purpose of conspicuous intoxication, and that his safety element has at occasions struggled to wake him because of obvious inebriation.
In a single occasion, The Atlantic reported, a request for “breaching gear” was made as a result of Patel was unreachable behind locked doorways. The journal additionally reported that, early in his tenure, conferences needed to be rescheduled to later within the day because of his consuming.
Present and former officers instructed The Atlantic that they fear Patel’s habits places the nation in peril, particularly because the U.S. wages a battle with Iran, a number one state sponsor of terror.
Patel’s lawyer, Jesse Binnall, in a letter to The Atlantic that was posted to X, mentioned he warned the journal that a number of items of its reporting had been false.
Binnall requested the journal to not publish claims that Patel drinks to extra at D.C. membership Ned’s and The Poodle Room in Las Vegas, the main points about his safety element being unable to wake him, and claims that his conduct was threatening public security, amongst different particulars within the story.
“[S]hould The Atlantic select to publish this demonstrably false and defamatory article, Director Patel may have no selection however to take swift authorized motion to uphold his status,” the letter signed by legal professionals Binnall and Jared Roberts mentioned.
The Atlantic in 2025 revealed {that a} Trump administration official had added its editor, Goldberg, to a Sign textual content message chain that included Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth in regards to the U.S. bombing Houthi targets in Yemen.
Patel is a longtime Trump loyalist who was confirmed as FBI director final 12 months, over the objection of all Democrats and two Republicans, who warned about his lack of expertise and prior controversial statements.
Patel made headlines not too long ago for chugging a beer after Workforce USA gained the gold medal in ice hockey within the 2026 Olympic Video games.
