FBI Director Prepares to Sue The Atlantic
FBI Director Kash Patel announced on “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo that he is ready to take legal action against The Atlantic regarding an article about his management while at the helm of a federal law enforcement agency.
In the piece published Friday, The Atlantic claimed that Patel had been experiencing “excessive drinking,” which raised concerns among officials from the Trump administration. Bartiromo probed Patel on the accuracy of the article, but Patel strongly disagreed with its claims.
“Maria, you and I have collaborated on this a lot over the years, especially when I was leading the Russiagate investigation in the House and during my time in the Trump administration. The results speak for themselves,” Patel asserted. “If the Fake News Mafia isn’t attacking you with unverified information in D.C., it probably means you’re doing your job. The voice against us is growing louder, especially since this FBI, under President Trump’s leadership supporting law enforcement, is having an exceptionally busy year, with homicide rates down 20% and opioid overdose deaths also down 20%.”
Patel continued, “We’ve identified 6,300 child victims—6,300 kids can now go home, which is a 30% increase. We’ve also seized enough fentanyl to kill 180 million Americans, a 31% increase. Our collaboration with China to control the flow of fentanyl precursors has been crucial, along with our recent achievements under President Trump.” He highlighted that they had captured eight of the world’s top ten fugitives, including various criminals, which he claimed was double the number captured during Joe Biden’s four years in office.
His celebration with the U.S. men’s hockey team after their gold medal at the Winter Olympics in February had previously drawn partisan criticism.
Patel concluded, “Maria, I’m here to announce we’re not going to sue them. If they want to attack my character, let’s take it to court,” he said, also posing the question to Bartiromo about whether she would sue them. He later confirmed he would indeed pursue “defamation” against The Atlantic.
In response to the situation, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, stated their team stands by their reporting on Patel when contacted for a comment.
