FBI Director Kash Patel arrives on the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Photographs
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel stated Sunday he’s suing The Atlantic journal over a latest article reporting that he often drinks alcohol to extra.
Patel stated on Fox Information’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that he could be bringing a lawsuit for defamation on Monday.
“We’re not going to take this laying down,” Patel stated. “You wish to assault my character? Come at me, convey it on. I will see you in courtroom.”
Pressed if he was planning to sue the journal, Patel stated, “[A]bsolutely, it is coming tomorrow.”
“We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel,” Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, stated in an announcement to CNBC.
The journal on Friday revealed an in depth article citing greater than two-dozen sources that made bombshell claims about Patel’s conduct. The sources advised the journal that Patel often drinks to the purpose of conspicuous intoxication, and that his safety element has at instances struggled to wake him attributable to obvious inebriation.
In a single occasion, The Atlantic reported, a request for “breaching tools” was made as a result of Patel was unreachable behind locked doorways. The journal additionally reported that, early in his tenure, conferences needed to be rescheduled to later within the day attributable to his consuming.
Present and former officers advised The Atlantic that they fear Patel’s conduct places the nation at risk, particularly because the U.S. wages a conflict with Iran — a number one state sponsor of terror.
Patel’s lawyer, Jesse Binnall, in a letter to The Atlantic that was posted to X, stated he offered discover to the journal that a number of items of its reporting have been false. Binnall requested the journal to not publish claims that Patel drinks to extra at D.C. membership Ned’s and The Poodle Room in Las Vegas, the small print about his safety element being unable to wake him, and claims that his conduct was threatening public security, amongst different particulars within the story.
“[S]hould The Atlantic select to publish this demonstrably false and defamatory article, Director Patel may have no selection however to take swift authorized motion to uphold his fame,” the letter, signed by legal professionals Binnall and Jared Roberts, learn.
The Atlantic in 2025 revealed {that a} Trump administration official had added its editor, Goldberg, to a Sign textual content message chain that included Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth in regards to the U.S. bombing Houthi targets in Yemen.
Patel is a longtime Trump loyalist who was confirmed as FBI director final 12 months, over the objection of all Democrats and two Republicans, who warned about his lack of expertise and prior controversial statements.
Patel made headlines lately for chugging a beer after Workforce USA received the gold medal in ice hockey within the 2026 Olympic Video games.