About Kash Patel Suing The Atlantic For Slander

EXCLUSIVE @TheAtlantic On multiple occasions Patel’s security detail had difficulty waking him because he was seemingly intoxicated, according to info supplied to DOJ and White House officials. A request for “breaching equipment”was made because Patel had been unreachable behind…

— Sarah Fitzpatrick (@S_Fitzpatrick) April 17, 2026

EXCLUSIVE @TheAtlantic On multiple occasions Patel’s security detail had difficulty waking him because he was seemingly intoxicated, according to info supplied to DOJ and White House officials. A request for “breaching equipment”was made because Patel had been unreachable behind locked doors.

The FBI responded with a statement, attributed to Patel: “Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court—bring your checkbook.”

Anybody recall the WSJ recently winning a slander suit  because the article included evidence they had contacted the subject for comment before going to press? That was a crucial element which defeated the “actual malice” claim of…Donald Trump.

The quote above is from The Atlantic article.  I’d also point out:

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 with described to me as bouts of excessive drinking. My colleague Ashley Parker and I reported earlier this month that Patel was among the officials expected to be fired after Attorney General Pam Bondi’s ouster, on April 2. “We’re all just waiting for the word” that Patel is officially out of the top job, an FBI official told me this week, and a former official told my colleague Jonathan Lemire that Patel was “rightly paranoid.” Senior members of the Trump administration are already discussing who might replace him, according to an administration official and two people close to the White House who were familiar with the conversations.

Patel’s FBI has made his drinking the only issue in that article, even though:

Note that @_EricaKnight is including the invented trip to Italy so Kash could booze up with the hockey team among days worked.

We all saw that "work" plain as day.

In case you wanted to measure HOW MUCH bullshit she's peddling here. https://t.co/9g4db1s6RQ

— EU says Elon should not lie abt my blue check (@emptywheel) April 18, 2026

Yes, the whole world saw Patel partying like a drunken frat boy. But it’s Patel who is calling attention to his drinking.  The article is about Patel’s standing in the Administration. It opens with an anecdote about Parel freaking out so badly about his job security that 

News of his emotional outburst ricocheted through the bureau, prompting chatter among officials and, in some corners of the building, expressions of relief. The White House fielded calls from the bureau and from members of Congress asking who was now in charge of the FBI.

Clearly a lot of people already think the knives are out for Patel. There’s no actual malice in reporting that.