‘Bring your checkbook’: Kash Patel is lawyering up against The Atlantic, but the story he wants buried is already everywhere

FBI Director Kash Patel is threatening to sue The Atlantic after the magazine published a report detailing his alleged drinking habits, erratic behavior, and unexplained absences. The report, which cited conversations with more than two dozen people, including current and former FBI officials, members of Congress, and hospitality industry workers, described Patel’s time in the role as a management failure and his personal behavior as a national security vulnerability.

One of the more alarming incidents in the report involves Patel’s reaction to an internal login failure on April 10. He contacted aides and close associates to say he had been fired by the White House, causing a frantic effort to resolve the issue. Two people familiar with the episode described his reaction as a “freak-out,” raising concerns about his stability and judgment.

The report also described Patel’s drinking as a “recurring issue across the government.” He has reportedly been seen visibly intoxicated at Washington, DC venues, often in front of administration staff. In some cases, security personnel had difficulty waking him after he appeared intoxicated, and a request for “breaching equipment” was reportedly made on one occasion when he could not be reached behind locked doors.

Patel’s lawsuit threat is unlikely to stop a story that has already taken on a life of its own

In response to the report, Patel posted on X, calling the story a “hit piece” and threatening legal action. “See you and your entire entourage of false reporting in court… But do keep at it with the fake news, actual malice standard is now what some would call a legal lay up,” he wrote.

According to The Hill, his lawyer, Jesse Binnall, also sent a letter to The Atlantic and journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick, denying the allegations and threatening to sue. “They were on notice that the claims were categorically false and defamatory,” Binnall wrote. “They published anyway.” Fitzpatrick, however, stood by her reporting. “I stand by every word,” she said during a Friday night appearance on MSNBC.

“These are not the types of people who are willing to speak out outside of the FBI, especially right now, because Kash Patel is going after people with polygraphs in a way that has never happened at the Bureau.” His use of polygraphs against agents is just one of the alarming ways Patel has been misusing his FBI authority, according to people familiar with the bureau.

Multiple current and former officials also told The Atlantic that Patel has repeatedly expressed concern that his position “is in jeopardy,” with much of that anxiety coming from his own conduct at the bureau. The login incident that sent him into a panic is a good example, how Patel mistook a glitch for being fired says a lot about the level of anxiety surrounding his role.

His behavior has also drawn scrutiny over allegations of using government-owned private jets for personal travel and a viral video showing him partying and drinking beers with players in the Team USA locker room after their win against Canada on the final day of the Winter Olympics.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche both defended Patel in statements to The Atlantic. Blanche said the FBI director “has accomplished more in 14 months than the previous administration did in four years.” Despite the show of support, the allegations detailed in the report continue to spread and draw public attention.

The lawsuit threat has done little to slow down the story. If anything, Patel’s aggressive response has drawn more attention to the very report he wants people to stop talking about, and the concerns raised by those who spoke to The Atlantic show no signs of going away.