The Atlantic journalist behind the bombshell report about FBI Director Kash Patel is doubling down on the explosive claims as the magazine faces a multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit.
“I stand by every single word of this report,” Atlantic staff writer Sarah Fitzpatrick said on Thursday’s “Radio Atlantic” podcast. “We were very diligent. We were very careful. It went through multiple levels of editing, review, care.”
Fitzpatrick alleged that since her report was published, she has been “inundated” with responses, including from government officials, reaffirming her reporting.
“And I think one of the things that has been most gratifying, after—immediately after the story published was, I have been inundated by additional sourcing going up to the highest levels of the government, thanking us for doing the work, providing additional corroborating information,” Fitzpatrick said.
She continued, “So this was an open secret in Washington, unfortunately, and we took great care to bring it to light.”
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An FBI spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “Doubling down on defamatory lies doesn’t make them true, despite the obsession with creating a distraction from the record-breaking, historic success of this FBI.”
On Monday, Patel filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic, saying in its lawsuit that Fitzpatrick and the magazine must be held “accountable for a sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece” published last week.
“Defendants are of course free to criticize the leadership of the FBI, but they crossed the legal line by publishing an article replete with false and obviously fabricated allegations designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office,” the lawsuit reads.
The story, “The FBI Director is MIA,” outlined several serious allegations, including instances of “erratic behavior,” “excessive drinking” and “unexplained absences.”
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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 after Attorney General Pam Bondi’s ouster and had to prepare 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,” Fitzpatrick told readers before citing past reports of rumors that Patel was also on the chopping block.
“The IT-lockout episode is emblematic of Patel’s tumultuous tenure as director of the FBI: He is erratic, suspicious of others, and prone to jumping to conclusions before he has necessary evidence, according to the more than two dozen people I interviewed 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,” Fitzpatrick wrote.
The report alleged that Patel has a pattern of “conspicuous inebriation” and that “he is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication,” which it said often took place at Ned’s private club in Washington, D.C. “in the presence of White House and other administration staff” and the Poodle Room in Las Vegas.
“Early in his tenure, meetings and briefings had to be rescheduled for later in the day as a result of his alcohol-fueled nights, six current and former officials and others familiar with Patel’s schedule told me,” Fitzpatrick wrote.
“On multiple occasions in the past year, members of his security detail had difficulty waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated, according to information supplied to Justice Department and White House officials.”
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According to The Atlantic, a request for “breaching equipment” often used by SWAT to gain access to buildings, “was made last year because Patel had been unreachable behind locked doors, according to multiple people familiar with the request.”
Unnamed sources also speculated whether Patel’s alcohol consumption played a role in his social media posts that shared inaccurate information about active law enforcement investigations, including what he had written after Charlie Kirk’s assassination before suspect Tyler Robinson turned himself in.
Jesse Binnall, an attorney representing Patel, shared a letter that was sent to The Atlantic ahead of the report being published, calling out the magazine for giving the FBI less than two hours to respond to “defamatory assertions” before its stated deadline and that most of the 19 substantive claims are “false.”
“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.’ Any such purported sources could not possibly possess firsthand knowledge, as the allegations are categorically false,” Binnall wrote.
The FBI forcefully pushed back against the report and multiple members of the Trump administration, including White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, expressed their support for Patel.
“Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court — bring your checkbook,” Patel told The Atlantic in a statement included in the report.
