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LetMyPeopleVote

(181,155 posts) Mon Apr 20, 2026, 10:53 AM Apr 20

MaddowBlog-Confronting ugly allegations, FBI Director Kash Patel files new $250 million lawsuit

Last edited Mon Apr 20, 2026, 12:02 PM - Edit history (1)

The Atlantic reported that FBI personnel have expressed concerns about the director’s unexplained absences and excessive drinking. He sued a few days later.

Link to tweet

?s=20
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/patel-lawsuit-the-atlantic-fbi-report

FBI Director Kash Patel, last seen by much of the public partying with the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team after they won the gold in February, has struggled badly for much of his tenure. But The Atlantic cast Patel’s troubles in a new light with a brutal new report on Friday, alleging that FBI personnel have expressed concerns about the director’s unexplained absences and excessive drinking, which have alarmed colleagues and his security detail.....

Patel and his lawyer wasted little time in condemning the reporting as “false” and vowing to file a lawsuit against the publication and the award-winning reporter who wrote the story, Sarah Fitzpatrick.

On Monday morning, he did exactly that, filing a $250 million defamation lawsuit.....

When host Maria Bartiromo asked, for example, for his response to allegations that he has a drinking problem, Patel didn’t answer directly, though his response heralded “President Trump’s brilliant leadership.”

BARTIROMO: The Atlantic alleges you have a drinking problem. What's your response?

KASH PATEL: The results speak for the themselves. If the fake news mafia isn't hitting you personally w/baseless information, then you're not doing your job. This FBI under President Trump's brilliant leadership ...
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-04-19T14:34:21.506Z

As part of the same interview, the FBI director went on to claim that the bureau has “information” that bolsters Trump’s conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, adding, “We are going to be making arrests. And it’s coming, and I promise you, it’s coming soon.”

In reality, there is no evidence to support of the president’s discredited conspiracy theories — he lost in 2020, fair and square — as Patel likely knows. But if The Atlantic’s reporting is correct, and the director is “deeply concerned that his job is in jeopardy,” he also likely knows that there’s no better way to bolster his job security than going on Fox News and vowing to arrest the president’s perceived political enemies while defending Trump’s weird claims about his 2020 defeat.

Discovery in this case will be fun

8 replies

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Highlight:

MaddowBlog-Confronting ugly allegations, FBI Director Kash Patel files new $250 million lawsuit (Original Post) LetMyPeopleVote Apr 20 OP

Do they pull these lawsuit numbers out of somebody's ass? displacedvermoter Apr 20 #1

I think Patel is hoping for a settlement to fund the rest of his early retirement. flying_wahini Apr 20 #2

No, no settlement for the rum soaked hedgehog. oasis Apr 22 #7

Typos Spotted in FBI Director Kash Patel's Lawsuit on Inaccuracies LetMyPeopleVote Apr 21 #3

MaddowBlog-House Democrats launch Patel probe, demand he submit to alcohol abuse screening LetMyPeopleVote Apr 22 #4

What qualifies Ka$h to head FBI? Kid Berwyn Apr 22 #5

I'm guessing Drunky Brewster will be fired Torchlight Apr 22 #6

Here are the questions Raskin wants Patel to answer: LetMyPeopleVote Thursday #8

displacedvermoter

(4,858 posts)

1. Do they pull these lawsuit numbers out of somebody's ass?

Reply to LetMyPeopleVote (Original post)

Mon Apr 20, 2026, 11:00 AM

Apr 20

flying_wahini

(8,281 posts)

2. I think Patel is hoping for a settlement to fund the rest of his early retirement.

Reply to LetMyPeopleVote (Original post)

Mon Apr 20, 2026, 11:24 AM

Apr 20

oasis

(53,844 posts)

7. No, no settlement for the rum soaked hedgehog.

Reply to flying_wahini (Reply #2)

Wed Apr 22, 2026, 01:00 PM

Apr 22

We’ll you in court pal.

LetMyPeopleVote

(181,155 posts)

3. Typos Spotted in FBI Director Kash Patel's Lawsuit on Inaccuracies

Reply to LetMyPeopleVote (Original post)

Tue Apr 21, 2026, 08:44 PM

Apr 21

This lawsuit is pure crap and will not survive a motion to dismiss. The section on actual malice is truly sad. The typos are simply amusing and show that this lawsuit was not filed by a competent law firm

Link to tweet

https://www.newsweek.com/typos-fbi-director-kash-patel-19-page-lawsuit-11856767

A defamation lawsuit filed this week by FBI Director Kash Patel against The Atlantic contains multiple spelling and copy‑editing errors, including misspelled words and formatting inconsistencies in passages sharply criticizing the magazine’s journalistic standards.

The 19‑page complaint, filed Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C., accuses The Atlantic and one of its reporters of knowingly publishing false and defamatory claims.

But a close review of the lawsuit itself reveals several basic errors in spelling.

Newsweek reached out to the legal team behind the filing, Binnall Law Group, via email for comment.....

The 19-page complaint contains several clear spelling mistakes, including:

"feable" instead of "feeble," used to describe what the lawsuit calls The Atlantic’s attempt to downplay partisan animus.
"politices" instead of "policies," in a passage accusing the magazine of ignoring its own editorial rules.
"dicussed" in place of "discussed."

None of the errors affects the substance of the allegations, which claim that The Atlantic relied on anonymous sources to publish false assertions about Patel’s behavior, alcohol use and job performance—claims that the lawsuit says were explicitly denied before publication by the FBI, the Justice Department and the White House.

LetMyPeopleVote

(181,155 posts)

4. MaddowBlog-House Democrats launch Patel probe, demand he submit to alcohol abuse screening

Reply to LetMyPeopleVote (Original post)

Wed Apr 22, 2026, 12:33 PM

Apr 22

If the beleaguered FBI director was hoping the allegations about his alleged drinking problem would be a one-day story, he has reason to be disappointed.

I have a hunch Kash Patel wonâ€™t like the fact that House Democrats are demanding that he submit to alcohol abuse screening.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-04-22T14:29:16.781Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/house-democrats-launch-patel-probe-demand-he-submit-to-alcohol-abuse-screening

A day later, House Democrats went noticeably further. On Tuesday, Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, not only announced a new investigation into Patel, but the Maryland Democrat and his partisan colleagues also demanded that Patel submit to an alcohol abuse screening. From the written correspondence sent to the bureau’s director:

For the sake of our own security, we need to know, for example, ‘how many drinks containing alcohol do you have on a typical day when you are drinking,’ ‘how often during the last year have you failed to do what was normally expected from you because of drinking,’ ‘how often during the last year have you needed a first drink in the morning to get yourself going after a heavy drinking session,’ and ‘how often during the last year have you been unable to remember what happened the night before because you had been drinking?’

The Judiciary Committee’s Democrats also sent a parallel letter to Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who chairs the panel, urging additional security in light of the seriousness of the allegations.

“Given the severity of the national security risks associated with these, we request that you make clear to Director Patel that if he fails to provide the requested information by next week’s deadline, the Committee will be requiring him to appear at a hearing in person and under oath to address Members’ well-founded concerns,” they wrote.,,,,

Meanwhile, Donald Trump hasn’t exactly scrambled to defend his handpicked FBI director. In fact, the president has been conspicuously quiet about the former podcast personality of late, failing to say his name out loud or online in roughly a month.

The Atlantic’s report added that Patel is “deeply concerned that his job is in jeopardy.” There’s no great mystery as to why.

Kid Berwyn

(24,837 posts)

5. What qualifies Ka$h to head FBI?

Reply to LetMyPeopleVote (Original post)

Wed Apr 22, 2026, 12:40 PM

Apr 22

He’s right down there with J Edgar, morally, but professionally?

Par-TEL! does love the high life, but that doesn’t make him someone capable of thwarting our nation’s enemies.