Why Kash Patel is spreading his alleged drinking stories to the world, despite denials, by suing the Atlantic

Kash Patel’s case against Atlantic has already backfired, big time.

If the FBI director had just issued a statement criticizing this magazine’s piece about him, the controversy would have been over in two days.

But by filing a $250 million suit against what he called a “defamatory episode,” he turned the top story on cable news, especially MS NOW, which remains on the air all day Monday, much of it unpopular.

In other words, Patel went white hot about the alleged binge and disappeared from a much larger audience than they would have heard about.

FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL FILES FOR $250 MILLION AGAINST THE ATLANTIC FOR ‘CONFIRMED’

“We will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists in this baseless case,” said a spokesperson for the magazine.

While Patel is free to sue anyone he wants, there are two main reasons this is a very bad idea.

As a public figure, he will have to prove that The Atlantic committed wrongdoing – that is, deliberately publishing falsehoods, or showing reckless indifference whether they are true or not. The Atlantic is a liberal magazine, but it has serious reporting chops.

KASH PATEL GOES DOWN AGAIN IN THE ATLANTIC LEGAL LAW, SLAMS THE LADY AS A ‘FAKE NEWS MAFIA’

In addition, Patel will open up the possibility of discovery, which means that the defendants can access all kinds of emails, texts and documents, some of which are unpleasant. He may be deposed under oath. He would have the same rights.

The public nuisance question has been a legal standard since a 1964 Supreme Court decision. Now I think this successive court would overturn that. But I don’t think this case will even go to trial.

The Atlantic reporter, Sarah Fitzpatrick, identified “more than a dozen people I interviewed about Patel’s behavior, including current and former FBI officials, law enforcement and intelligence personnel, hospitality industry workers, members of Congress, political organizations, lobbyists, and former advisers,” all on condition of anonymity.

Atlantic reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick says she spoke to more than a dozen people about Patel’s behavior — including current FBI officials. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

Patel’s lawsuit alleges that despite his denials, he was given just two hours to respond to the magazine’s list of questions.

He issued a statement, included in this article, and the denial was echoed by White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt, who said “Director Patel remains a key player on the administration’s law and order team.”

In the article, Patel is described as “freaking out” when he can’t get into the internal computer system, telling staff he’s been fired. It turns out to be a mistake.

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Among the allegations in the Fitzpatrick piece:

“Many officials told me that Patel’s drinking has always been a source of concern throughout the government. They said he was known to drink to the point of apparent inebriation…Early in his career, meetings and briefings had to be rescheduled later in the day because of his alcohol-fueled nights, six current and former officials and others familiar with Patel’s schedule told me.

“Several times over the past year, members of his security detail had difficulty waking Patel because he appeared to be intoxicated, according to information provided by Justice Department and White House officials.”

The Atlantic described Patel’s drinking as “no secret. While on an official trip to Italy in February, he was photographed shooting beers with the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team following their gold medal victory. The incident prompted the president—a non-drinker whose brother died following a long battle with alcoholism—to call the FBI director to express his displeasure, according to two officials familiar with the call.”

In addition, the piece says, “Patel has led a purge of people he believes to be ‘conspirators’ or ‘enemies’ against Trump within the FBI. This has included firing people, opening internal investigations, and pressuring agents to quit when they back down—or are perceived to have back down—against their legal demands or questioning Patel.”

Patel, a former congressional aide, is a lawyer and public defender who held various positions during the Trump administration, and in 2022 became director of the Trump Media & Technology Group.

In his lawsuit, the FBI official said the article was “full of false allegations and intended to discredit Director Patel and get him fired…Director Patel doesn’t drink much.”

HOW DONALD TRUMP TRIED TO INSTALL THE ATLANTIC COURT – AND WHY A LIBERAL MAGAZINE CAME INTO INTERVIEW

Under editor Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic won its first Pulitzer Prize and three straight National Magazine Awards for general excellence. Adweek named him Editor of the Year and last year he won the John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism.

It was Goldberg, you will recall, who was mistakenly copied from a Signal interview in which Secretary of War Pete Hegseth shared classified information about the war. But he cooperated with the administration in what might be published.

Although Trump attacked Goldberg last year as a “sleazebag,” he later invited her and two reporters to an Oval Office interview.

The president, who was trying to find a good story, wrote that he was meeting Goldberg “of all people.”

“It was my way of explaining to people that he was up here, because a lot of people were like, ‘Why are you doing that?’ I do that because there’s a certain respect,” Goldberg told me.

President Donald Trump met with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg last year. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

The president, of course, has sued numerous news organizations, winning settlements of at least $16 million each from CBS and ABC.

For that reason, Patel’s case may not be about winning.

The FBI director may be going to court as a way to force the magazine to hire lawyers and as part of Trump’s campaign to intimidate the media and possibly soften or drown out more sensitive stories. (And yet the president talks to reporters almost every day, increasingly takes their calls, and attends his first White House Correspondents Dinner.)

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The Atlantic is owned by a company founded by Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs, who is a leading investor and chairman of the magazine. He has spent nearly $5 billion, nearly half of his net worth, on issues such as environmental and social justice causes. Deep pockets don’t seem to be a problem.

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Kash Patel is raising serious questions about his conduct, which he denies, by going through the motions. All he has accomplished so far is to put these allegations on a national level.