Embattled FBI Director Kash Patel hit out at reporters asking him about the claims made in an explosive expose alleging he has a serious drinking problem.
The FBI chief and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had announced a federal fraud indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center on Tuesday, when reporters started asking Patel about the bombshell Atlantic article.
‘The FBI director is MIA’ was published on April 17 and alleged that Patel ‘has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.’
Reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick cited anonymous sources within the FBI that said Patel’s alcohol intake made him unreachable at key moments and complicated the manhunt for Charlie Kirk‘s assassin.
Agents allegedly had to use SWAT breaching equipment to break down his door on one occasion, and Patel allegedly spiraled into a nervous breakdown when he mistakenly believed he had been fired by President Trump, the article claimed.
But Patel framed the story on Tuesday as part of an elaborate effort to disparage him.
He is now suing the publication for defamation – and warned reporters on Tuesday they could face similar consequences if they echo the allegations.
‘I can say unequivocally that I never listen to the fake news mafia, and when they get louder, it just means I’m doing my job,’ the FBI chief asserted, arguing: ‘I’ve never been intoxicated on the job and that is why we filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit.
‘And any one of you that wants to participate, bring it on,’ he cautioned.
FBI Director Kash Patel hit out at journalists on Tuesday for asking him about claims made in an explosive expose alleging he has a serious drinking problem
Patel took specific aim at NBC News reporter Ryan Reilly (pictured), who asked about claims that the FBI director ‘freaked out’ after mistakenly believing he had been fired due to a technical issue that left him locked out of a computer system
The article was published on April 17 and ran with the headline, ‘The FBI director is MIA’
When he was then asked about ‘unexplained absences,’ Patel insisted that he has put in more work hours than any of his predecessors, and that his efforts have resulted in fewer murders, fewer opioid deaths and more espionage arrests.
‘I’m the first one in and the last one out,’ he claimed.
At the same time, though, Patel addressed a viral video of him guzzling beer in February while celebrating with the US Olympics Men’s Hockey team following their victory over Canada.
‘I’m like an everyday American who loves his country, loves the sport of hockey and champions, my friends, when they raise a gold medal and invite me in to celebrate,’ he said.
The FBI director took particular aim at NBC News reporter Ryan Reilly during his tirade, after the journalist pressed him on claims that Patel ‘freaked out’ after mistakenly believing he had been fired due to a technical issue that left him locked out of a computer system.
Fearing he was about to be fired by the Trump administration, he allegedly called aides and allies in panic – a reaction that, according to the report, quickly reached the White House, according to The Atlantic.
But Patel denied those claims in his press conference, telling Reilly: ‘The problem with you and your baseless reporting is that is an absolute lie.
‘It was never said. It never happened,’ he argued. ‘And I will serve in this administration as long as the president and the attorney general want me to do so.’
‘I was never locked out of my system,’ Patel then insisted.
Patel addressed a viral video of him guzzling beer in February while celebrating with the US Olympics Men’s Hockey team following their victory over Canada
Patel argued that he is just an American who loves hockey and likes to celebrate when the US wins a gold medal
But Reilly then pointed out, ‘Your lawsuit says the opposite.’
It admits the FBI director experienced a ‘routine technical problem logging into a government system, which was quickly fixed.’
‘Director Patel’s sole focus is on carrying out the administration’s law enforcement priorities,’ the filing states. ‘Prior to publication, the FBI expressly informed defendants that the firing rumor was a “made-up rumor” and that the “freak out” and job-jeopardy claims were fabricated.’
Still, Patel insisted on Tuesday that claims he was locked out of the computer systems are untrue.
‘Anyone that says that… is lying,’ he argued.
The FBI director was then backed up by Blanche, who criticized The Atlantic story for relying on anonymous sources and making inaccurate claims.
‘My concerns are completely around the anonymous reporting that comes forth constantly,’ the attorney general said.
‘When you have a bunch of people who are hiding behind closed curtains saying things we’re not willing to say publicly – and there’s certain parts of the article that are blatantly false – because apparently I was told something I wasn’t, it’s suspicious,’ he said.
Patel was backed up by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche
The Atlantic story relied on interviews with more than two dozen sources said to be familiar with Patel’s behavior.
It claimed his ‘erratic’ behavior had left many at the FBI concerned that the bureau would not be able to properly respond to a national crisis or terror attack.
‘That’s what keeps me up at night,’ one unnamed official told the publication.
The Atlantic’s report also alleged that early in his tenure leading the bureau, meetings were forced to be rescheduled later in the day to accommodate what it describes as Patel’s alleged ‘nighttime drinking’ habits.
Drinking to the ‘obvious point of intoxication,’ as alleged in the report, violates FBI conduct rules and leaves the nation’s top law enforcement official vulnerable to the possible risk of coercion or exploitation.
The article even alleged that Patel’s drinking habits also damaged the high-profile manhunt for Charlie Kirk’s assassin in September 2025, where Patel bungled the announcement of a ‘suspect’ in custody.
Hours after the killing of the conservative activist, Patel took to X to announce that the ‘subject’ in Kirk’s murder was finally ‘in custody.’
But he walked back his earlier statement shortly after, announcing that the suspect ‘has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement.’ A different suspect, Tyler Robinson, was later arrested and charged with the murder.
Two sources with knowledge of his movements revealed that he was actually in New York City that evening, dining at Rao’s – the high-end Italian hotspot that opens at 7pm promptly, as reported by NBC News.
The article alleged that Patel’s drinking habits also damaged the high-profile manhunt for Charlie Kirk’s assassin in September 2025
Tyler Robinson was later arrested and charged in Kirk’s murder
In response to The Atlantic’s recent bombshell claims, Patel’s advisor Erica Knight released a pointed statement on X, calling it a story ‘that every real DC reporter chased, couldn’t verify, and passed on.’
‘The Atlantic’s “reporting”? Fabricated stories about “breaching equipment” that was never requested. Intoxication claims with not a single witness willing to put their name on one,’ she wrote.
‘Every serious DC reporter passed on this. Sarah Fitzpatrick and Jeffrey Goldberg printed it anyway,’ she added. ‘Lawsuit is being filed.’
Patel also threatened legal action against The Atlantic almost immediately after the article was published, branding it a ‘hit piece.’
In a post on X, Patel shared a screenshot of an email from FBI communications official Benjamin Williamson to Fitzpatrick, which described the article as ‘completely false and nearly 100 percent clip.’
The email read: ‘Top to bottom, this is one of the most absurd things I’ve ever read. Completely false and nearly 100% clip. And with a two-hour deadline.’
In the caption, Patel wrote: ‘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.’
The Atlantic has said it stands by Sarah Fitzpatrick’s (pictured) reporting
His lawsuit filed on Monday now argues that all of the allegations in The Atlantic story are false and ‘outrageous’ as his lawyers argue that Fitzpatrick ‘relied entirely on anonymous sources she knew to be both highly partisan with an ax to grind and also not in a position to know the facts.’
The FBI director said his team warned the outlet the article was ‘categorically false’ hours before publication, and accused The Atlantic of having a ‘long-running editorial animus’ toward him.
But in a statement following the lawsuit, The Atlantic told the Daily Mail: ‘We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit.’
