FBI Director Kash Patel's Defamation Lawsuits: One Dismissed, One Pending

Lawsuit Against Frank Figliuzzi Dismissed

U.S. District Judge George Hanks Jr. of the Southern District of Texas dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by FBI Director Kash Patel against Frank Figliuzzi, a former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence and current media contributor.

The lawsuit concerned a statement made by Figliuzzi on May 2, 2025, during an appearance on the MSNBC program Morning Joe. Figliuzzi said:

"Yeah, well, reportedly, he's been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building."

Judge Hanks ruled that the statement constituted "rhetorical hyperbole" and could not be perceived by a reasonable person as stating actual facts about Patel. The judge wrote that "a person of reasonable intelligence and learning would not have taken his statement literally" and therefore the statement could not support a defamation claim.

The judge denied Figliuzzi's request for court costs and attorneys' fees under Texas' anti-SLAPP law.

Figliuzzi's lawyer, Marc Fuller, described the decision as "a victory for press freedom and the First Amendment" and characterized Patel's claim as "baseless." Patel's lawyers did not respond to requests for comment regarding the dismissal.

Lawsuit Against The Atlantic

Patel filed a separate defamation lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against The Atlantic magazine, its editor Jeffrey Goldberg, and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick. The lawsuit seeks $250 million in compensatory, special, and punitive damages.

Article Content and Allegations

The lawsuit concerns an article published by The Atlantic on April 17-18, 2026, which included allegations about Patel's conduct. The article, written by Fitzpatrick, reported that she interviewed "more than two dozen people" about Patel's conduct, including current and former FBI officials, staff at law enforcement and intelligence agencies, hospitality industry workers, members of Congress, political operatives, lobbyists, and former advisers. Sources were granted anonymity "to discuss sensitive information and private conversations."

The article included the following specific claims attributed to unnamed witnesses:

• Patel was spotted drinking heavily at the private club Ned's in Washington and at the Poodle Room in Las Vegas.
• Six people told the magazine that briefings and meetings involving Patel had to be rescheduled due to drinking the night before.
• On multiple occasions, Patel's security team had difficulty waking him.
• On one occasion, staff requested breaching equipment to access a locked room where Patel was unreachable.

The article reported that members of Patel's security detail had difficulty waking him on multiple occasions in the past year because he appeared intoxicated. Sources "described Patel's tenure as a management failure and his personal behavior as a national-security vulnerability."

Patel's Denials and Legal Claims

In the lawsuit, Patel's legal team denied the allegations, stating he "does not drink to excess... and this has not, and has never been, a source of concern across the government." The lawsuit states that Patel is "at FBI headquarters nearly every single day" and frequently visits field offices. It describes the anonymous sources cited in the article as "partisans with axes to grind."

The lawsuit describes the article as a "sweeping, malicious and defamatory hit piece" containing "false and obviously fabricated allegations." It lists 17 specific allegations from the article that are described as "false and defamatory statements of fact," including claims that Patel:

• Is a habitual drunk
• Is unable to perform his official duties
• Is a threat to public safety
• Is vulnerable to foreign coercion
• Has violated Department of Justice ethics rules
• Is unreachable in emergencies
• Has required the deployment of "breaching equipment" to extract him from locked rooms
• Allows alcohol to influence his public statements about criminal investigations
• Behaves erratically in a manner that compromises national security

The lawsuit accuses the journalists of ignoring information that would have countered their "central thesis that Director Patel is a derelict and erratic leader, who abuses alcohol to the point of being unfit for his duties." The lawsuit states The Atlantic "published these statements with actual malice."

Pre-Publication Communications

According to the lawsuit, The Atlantic sent the FBI a request for comment and asked for a response in less than two hours. The magazine then "refused to honor" a request for more time and published the article online later the same afternoon. Patel's lawyers say The Atlantic gave the FBI only 111 minutes to respond to 19 detailed questions.

Patel threatened to sue The Atlantic during the pre-publication window. He was quoted in the article as saying, "I'll see you in court — bring your checkbook." Before publication, Patel's lawyer, Jesse Binnall, sent a three-page letter to Fitzpatrick threatening a lawsuit and requesting she retain communications related to the story.

The Atlantic's reporter stated the FBI and White House were given multiple opportunities to respond.

April 10 Incident

The Atlantic article reported that Patel was locked out of an internal FBI computer system on April 10, which the article stated led him to believe he had been fired. Patel's lawsuit confirms the technical incident occurred but describes it as a "routine technical problem... which was quickly fixed." The lawsuit states it is "false" that Patel "panicked" or engaged in a "freak-out" over the incident. The lawsuit states the FBI told The Atlantic before publication that talk of his firing was a "made-up rumor."

Responses from Parties

• Patel: "They were given the truth before they published, and they chose to print falsehoods anyway." He called the article "a lie."
• Jesse Binnall, Patel's lawyer: "Defamatory speech is not free speech, and it is an honor to represent Kash Patel in this lawsuit seeking accountability for The Atlantic article's malicious falsehoods."
• The Atlantic: "We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit."
• Editor Jeffrey Goldberg and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick have both stated they stand by the reporting.
• White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Atlantic that crime has decreased under Patel's leadership and he "remains a critical player on the administration's law and order team."

Legal Context

"Actual malice" is the legal standard that public figures must meet to prevail in defamation cases. It means the author either knew a claim was false or displayed "reckless disregard of whether it was false or not."

Defamation lawsuits against media organizations are frequently dismissed before reaching the discovery stage. If the case survives early legal hurdles, it could proceed to the discovery phase, when both sides exchange evidence and take sworn testimony. Lee Levine, a defamation defense attorney, said: "At the same time, The Atlantic would have the same opportunity to take discovery to confirm the accuracy of its reporting, which would include taking sworn testimony not just of Patel but of others with knowledge of the underlying facts."

Patel's legal action follows a pattern used by former President Donald Trump to challenge damaging news stories. A judge in Florida dismissed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit Trump filed against the Wall Street Journal. A judge dismissed a $15 billion lawsuit Trump filed against The New York Times and some reporters. Trump also sued CBS News and ABC News; both news organizations settled out of court.

Congressional Developments

House Democrats Investigation

House Democrats have initiated an investigation into FBI Director Kash Patel following the The Atlantic report. Representative Jamie Raskin and House Judiciary Democrats sent a letter to Patel requesting he complete the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), a 10-question World Health Organization screening tool, under penalty of perjury. The letter also requested Patel provide all security clearance questionnaires completed since taking his role.

The letter cited alleged conduct that Democrats stated had compromised national security, including claims that:

• Patel's alleged unavailability led to delays in terror-related decisions, including the issuance of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants.
• His behavior had undermined two high-profile criminal investigations: the manhunt following a mass shooting at Brown University and the search for the assassin of Charlie Kirk. The letter alleged Patel publicly broadcast inaccurate information in both cases.

The letter stated: "These glimpses of your relationship to alcohol would be alarming to see in an FBI agent; for us to see them in the FBI Director himself is shocking and indicative of a public emergency."

Democrats simultaneously wrote to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, urging him to compel Patel's appearance at a formal hearing under oath if he fails to comply with their demands.

A spokesperson for House Judiciary Committee Republicans described the Democrats' letter as "unserious," stating it was "another unserious effort from anonymous sources and partisan actors to attack the President and his Administration."

Congressional Hearing Testimony

During a congressional hearing, Patel denied under oath allegations of excessive drinking and unexplained absences, calling them "baseless." Patel offered to take a drinking problem test if Senator Chris Van Hollen would take it as well.

Patel alleged that Van Hollen had been photographed drinking "margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar" and had run up a $7,000 bar tab. A Van Hollen spokesperson said the photograph was a hoax and the bar tab was a campaign-funded holiday reception catering expense.

Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat, called for Patel's removal, arguing he had "weaponized the world's pre-eminent investigative agency to serve the interests of one person – President Trump."

Related Developments

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned on April 21, 2026, amid an internal investigation into alleged misconduct that included having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, travel fraud, and drinking at work. White House communications director Steven Cheung said Chavez-DeRemer was "leaving the administration" for the private sector. Chavez-DeRemer's lawyers have denied the allegations. She is the third member of Trump's cabinet to leave in three months, following the departures of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Background

Kash Patel was appointed FBI director by President Donald Trump in February 2025. Patel previously served as a national security official during Trump's first administration. He has fired FBI employees involved in investigations into President Trump. Several former FBI employees have pending lawsuits over their firings.

In February, video showed Patel celebrating with the U.S. men's hockey team after a victory at the Winter Olympics, including chugging a beer and spraying it in the air.

Patel appeared on Fox News on April 20, 2026, where he blamed the "fake news mafia" for trying to destroy his reputation and indicated he would sue for defamation. He also discussed an investigation into claims about the 2020 election, stating he has evidence and promised more arrests would come soon.

CNN has not independently corroborated the anecdotes reported in The Atlantic's article. Claims that the 2020 election was rigged have been rejected by multiple investigations and courts.