Kash Patel has filed a $250 MILLION defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic

[mystery-ak]

https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/2046240870211506598

[mystery-ak]

Former Obama prosecutor wishes Kash Patel ‘good luck’ with D.C. jury pool
April 21, 2026 | Chris Donaldson

FBI Director Kash Patel followed through on his threat to sue The Atlantic over a hit piece that unflatteringly portrays him, but he could be in for a tough time in court thanks to a biased Washington, D.C. jury.

A former Obama federal prosecutor inadvertently acknowledged the truth about the partisan jury pool in the nation’s capital, a city that overwhelmingly votes Democrat and loathes President Donald J. Trump with a purple passion.

In a Monday post to X, podcaster and former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance shared a screenshot of Patel’s defamation lawsuit filed earlier in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking $250 million in damages from the outlet and its reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick for the piece titled “The FBI Director Is MIA” which painted a picture of the FBI boss as a raging drunk.

https://twitter.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/2046266524931895342

more
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2026/04/21/former-obama-prosecutor-wishes-kash-patel-good-luck-with-d-c-jury-pool-1633632/

[mountaineer]

https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/2046481111874965994

[mystery-ak]

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2046710943338336541

[mystery-ak]

Raskin: FBI Director Kash Patel ‘Is Just Not Qualified for the Job’

Tuesday on MS NOW’s “All In,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said FBI director Kash Patel was “just not qualified for the job.”

Tuesday on MS NOW’s “All In,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said FBI director Kash Patel was “just not qualified for the job.”

Host Chris Hayes said, “Congressman, that seems to me there’s a really sort of unnerving and dangerous dynamic whereby people in Trump’s orbit, particularly those, associate the Justice Department and law enforcement when they’re on thin ice with him, then need to do things that would ingratiate themselves, which means a kind of upped ante or incentive for abuses of power.”

Raskin said, “Yeah. Well, we saw with Pam Bondi, we saw with Kristi Noem, and the only thing they like more than suing the media is suing the government, because then they can settle the case against themselves and give themselves millions of dollars.”

He added, “Kash Patel is really on the run now. I mean, this is a guy who the public has understood for a long time is just not qualified for the job and is nothing but, you know, a political sycophant and flunky for Donald Trump. He’s been going after anybody who participated in the prosecution of the January 6th rioters and insurrectionists. He’s, you know, always been on an anti-gay kick. He has sacked lots of people, simply for political reasons, at the FBI. And he’s been actively engaged in the cover-up of the crimes associated with Jeffrey Epstein and Glenn Maxwell, and he’s led the opposition to the release of all of the files. So, people have understood he’s got his personal issues, too. He has abused the privileges of his office, misused the jets and the airplanes for him and his girlfriend. And he’s basically done everything other than run the FBI in the interests of the American people.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/04/21/raskin-fbi-director-kash-patel-is-just-not-qualified-for-the-job/

[mountaineer]

I mean, this is a guy who the public has understood for a long time is just not qualified for the job and is nothing but, you know, a political sycophant and flunky for Donald Trump.

For any Democrat to say this, in the wake of all the morons and half-wits who either worked for or were appointed by Obama and Biden, is laughable.

[mystery-ak]

Why Kash Patel broadcast his alleged drinking issues to the world, despite denials, by suing the Atlantic
Constant cable news coverage Monday brought accusations of excessive drinking to a vastly larger audience
 By Howard Kurtz Fox News
Published April 22, 2026 3:00am EDT

Kash Patel’s lawsuit against the Atlantic has already backfired, big time.

Had the FBI director just put out a statement denouncing the magazine’s piece on him, the controversy would have vanished in two days.

But by filing the $250 million suit against what he calls a "defamatory hit piece," he turned it into a top story on cable news, especially MS NOW, with constant coverage all day Monday, most of it unfavorable.

In other words, Patel shined a white-hot spotlight on accusations of excessive drinking and disappearances to a vastly larger audience than would have heard about them. 

"We will vigorously defend the Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit," a magazine spokeswoman said.

While Patel is free to sue anyone he wants, there are two main reasons this is a seriously bad idea.

As a public figure, he would have to prove that the Atlantic acted with malice – that is, either knowingly publishing something false, or showing reckless disregard for whether or not it’s true. The Atlantic is a liberal magazine, but has serious reporting chops.

more
https://www.foxnews.com/media/why-kash-patel-broadcast-alleged-drinking-issues-world-despite-denials-suing-atlantic

[mystery-ak]

House Democrats demand Kash Patel take alcohol test under penalty of perjury after Atlantic report
House Judiciary Committee Republicans called the Democrats' letter to the FBI director 'unserious'
By Adam Pack Fox News
Published April 22, 2026 4:45am EDT

House Democrats are launching an investigation into FBI Director Kash Patel following a bombshell story from The Atlantic alleging he had "alarmed colleagues" with excessive drinking and erratic behavior.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and House Judiciary Democrats are demanding that Patel complete a 10-question test identifying "hazardous drinking behaviors" under the penalty of perjury.

"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," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Patel late Tuesday evening.

Patel has vigorously denied the allegations in The Atlantic story and said Tuesday he has "never been intoxicated on the job."

more
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-democrats-demand-kash-patel-take-alcohol-test-penalty-perjury-atlantic-report

[mountaineer]

The Atlantic is a liberal magazine, but has serious reporting chops.
 

[Wingnut]

The Atlantic is a liberal magazine, but has serious reporting chops.
 

Yeah, like NY Mag.  The standard bearer for truth.

[Timber Rattler]

He's a public official and won't be able to clear the Sullivan standard.

[Smokin Joe]

He's a public official and won't be able to clear the Sullivan standard.

Perhaps, who would think a Leftist rag would attack the reputation of a key member of the Trump Administration with lies?

Gee whiz, like that's never happened before?

[Timber Rattler]

Perhaps, who would think a Leftist rag would attack the reputation of a key member of the Trump Administration with lies?

Gee whiz, like that's never happened before?

His lawsuit in Houston just got thrown out...

Judge dismisses Kash Patel’s defamation lawsuit over claim he frequented ‘nightclubs’

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/21/kash-patel-fbi-defamation-lawsuit-figliuzzi-dismissed.html

[mystery-ak]

How long before Kash *resigns?
Judge dismisses Kash Patel’s defamation lawsuit over claim he frequented ‘nightclubs’
Published Tue, Apr 21 20268:02 PM EDTUpdated 2 Hours Ago

Dan Mangan

A Houston federal court judge dismissed a lawsuit by Kash Patel that claimed Frank Figliuzzi defamed the FBI director in a comment on the MS NOW show “Morning Joe.”

Figliuzzi, a former FBI official, had said Patel has “been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building,” the FBI’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

“Figliuzzi’s statement is rhetorical hyperbole that cannot constitute defamation,” U.S. District Court Judge George Hanks Jr. wrote in his decision.

The lawsuit is unrelated to the $250 million defamation lawsuit that Patel filed Monday against The Atlantic magazine over an article that alleged he has abused alcohol.

A Houston federal court judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by FBI Director Kash Patel alleging that former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi defamed him by saying Patel last year had “been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of” the bureau’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

“The Court finds that Figliuzzi’s statement is rhetorical hyperbole that cannot constitute defamation,” U.S. District Court Judge George Hanks Jr. wrote in his decision. “Accordingly, Dir. Patel has failed to state a claim against Figliuzzi, and his lawsuit must be dismissed.”

The dismissal came a day after Patel filed an unrelated $250 million defamation lawsuit in D.C. federal court against The Atlantic magazine over a new article that alleged he has abused alcohol.

While ruling on the key question of defamation in Figliuzzi’s favor, the judge denied his request that he be awarded court costs and attorneys’ fees under Texas’ anti-SLAPP law. SLAPP is an acronym for Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation.

Figliuzzi’s lawyer, Marc Fuller, in a statement to CNBC, said, “This is a victory for press freedom and the First Amendment.”

more
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/21/kash-patel-fbi-defamation-lawsuit-figliuzzi-dismissed.html