Left-leaning journalists printing sensational allegations against conservatives in D.C. is nothing new, but one prominent Trump administration official is drawing a line in the sand.
The Atlantic recently published an article that includes an array of allegations against FBI Director Kash Patel, along with Patel’s own denial and clearly stated intentions to fight the claims in court.
Fox News reported on the development:
“Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court — bring your checkbook,” Patel told The Atlantic in a statement included in the report.
ADVERTISEMENTThe story, titled, “The FBI Director is MIA,” outlined several explosive allegations, including instances of “erratic” behavior, “excessive drinking” and “unexplained absences.”
The first claim alleged Patel had a “freak-out” over a tech issue earlier this month when attempting to log into a computer system, believing he was being fired by President Donald Trump following Attorney General Pam Bondi’s ouster and had to prep an announcement. The Atlantic cited nine unnamed sources familiar with the incident.
“But Patel, according to multiple current officials, as well as former officials who have stayed close to him, is deeply concerned that his job is in jeopardy. He has good reasons to think so — including some having to do with what witnesses described to me as bouts of excessive drinking,” The Atlantic staff writer Sarah Fitzpatrick told readers before citing past reports of rumors that Patel was also on the chopping block.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Atlantic in a statement that Patel “remains a critical player on the Administration’s law and order team.” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche also threw his support behind the FBI Director, telling Fitzpatrick, “Patel has accomplished more in 14 months than the previous administration did in four years. Anonymously sourced hit pieces do not constitute journalism.”
The Atlantic’s report and Patel’s response drew significant attention among social media users:
I've criticized Kash Patel's leadership of the FBI, but this Atlantic hit job is a total joke. Half-baked rumors and warmed-over press clippings. Patel must be doing a great job if that's the worst Jeffrey "suckers and losers" Goldberg and four of his reporters can find with all… https://t.co/FVUc6NPOob
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) April 18, 2026
This is the clown from The Atlantic who wrote the hit piece on Kash Patel.
Feel free to add her on Signal and let her know exactly how you feel 👇 pic.twitter.com/QqdN7eyMhU
— Gina Milan (@ginamilan_) April 18, 2026
Kash Patel advisor Erica Knight says a “lawsuit is being filed” over The Atlantic’s article alleging that the FBI director’s drinking has been “a recurring source of concern across the government.”
Patel retweeted the post. https://t.co/YZJWPqmRi1
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) April 17, 2026
Here’s what the New York Post reported on the matter:
Jesse Binnall, the FBI director’s attorney, shared a letter on X that was sent to journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick before her story was published asserting that “most” of the “substantive claims” about Patel in the piece were “false, unsourced, and facially defamatory.”
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“They were on notice that the claims were categorically false and defamatory. They published anyway,” Binnall wrote.
He added, “See you in court.”
Binnall notes the “vast majority of the claims in the draft article rely solely on vague, unattributed sourcing such as ‘people familiar with the matter’ or ‘some have characterized.’”
The lawyer specifically called out an allegation that Patel’s security detail had so much difficulty waking him after a night of drinking that they requested “breaching equipment” to get into his locked room.
Binnall said the allegations “has no corroborating public record whatsoever and appears to be either fabricated or drawn from a single hostile and unreliable source.”
“A reasonable and responsible pre-publication investigation, including a simple request to the FBI for relevant documentary evidence, would have quickly disproven this claim and many of the others,” he argued.
Unsurprisingly, the network now known as MS Now was eager to host the author of this hit piece in a segment of the show hosted by the Obama administration’s former mouthpiece:
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