Some of the very allegations Kash Patel has slammed as “hit piece lies” in a bombshell report are now being undercut by his own $250 million defamation lawsuit.
The FBI director, 45, has been scrambling to counter reporting from The Atlantic, which cited more than two dozen anonymous sources describing a drinking problem so severe it could “threaten national security,” as well as erratic, paranoid behavior.
“Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court—bring your checkbook,” the FBI director warned in a statement to the magazine last week.
But the lawsuit, filed Monday, appears to confirm a key detail from Atlantic reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick’s story. In her piece, “The FBI Director Is MIA,” Fitzpatrick reported that Patel had a meltdown after being locked out of his email account on April 10, believing he had been fired by President Donald Trump.
While FBI Assistant Director Ben Williamson initially dismissed the story as “completely false at a nearly 100% clip,” the lawsuit acknowledges that Patel was, in fact, unable to access a government system that day.
“On April 10, 2026, Director Patel had a routine technical problem logging into a government system, which was quickly fixed,” the lawsuit, filed by attorney Jason Greaves of the Binnall Law Group, reads. “Director Patel’s sole focus is on carrying out the administration’s law enforcement priorities.”
Attorneys at the Binnall Law Group, which was paid more than $4.5 million in legal fees by Trump PACs from 2022 to 2024, also condemned the article as a “sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece.” The firm also represented Trump, 79, following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.
They went on to argue that The Atlantic “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 firm has also represented former North Carolina lieutenant governor Mark Robinson in a failed defamation lawsuit against CNN.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt did offer a statement defending Patel, telling The Atlantic that “crime across the country has plummeted to the lowest level in more than 100 years and many high-profile criminals have been put behind bars. Director Patel remains a critical player on the Administration’s law and order team.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to both the FBI and the White House for further statements.
The Daily Beast has not independently corroborated the anecdotes reported in The Atlantic’s article. The award-winning magazine, however, has doubled down. “We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit,” a spokesperson said Monday.
Fitzpatrick, a former producer on 60 Minutes and a professor at Columbia University, also said in an interview on MS NOW on Friday night, “I stand by every word of this reporting. We have excellent attorneys.”
It isn’t the first time Patel has come under fire for his drinking—or his leadership of the FBI.
Just two months ago, the former podcaster was skewered after being filmed clutching a beer during a raucous locker room celebration with Team USA at the Winter Olympics—during a taxpayer-funded “business trip” to Italy.
Viral videos showed him raising his fists and beer in the air while appearing to sing lyrics from the 2002 patriotic anthem “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American)” alongside the hockey players. The spectacle reportedly even drew criticism from Trump himself.
“We’re all just waiting for the word,” one FBI official told Fitzpatrick, that Patel has been fired.
Polymarket currently gives the FBI director an 83 percent chance of being ousted from Trump’s administration by 2027.
