Guno צְבִי
We fight, We win, Am Yisrael Chai
On April 20, CNN shared on X that Patel, 46, has filed a $250M defamation suit against The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick over a story that alleges he has "alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences."
The lawsuit says statements in Fitzpatrick's article "falsely assert" that Patel "is a habitual drunk, unable to perform the duties of his office, is a threat to public safety, is vulnerable to foreign coercion, has violated DOJ ethics rules, is unreachable in emergencies, has required the deployment of 'breaching equipment' to extract him from locked rooms, allows alcohol to influence his public statements about criminal investigations, and behaves erratically in a manner that compromises national security,"
The Atlantic published Fitzpatrick's report, titled The FBI Director is MIA, on Friday, April 17. The reporter conducted interviews with over two dozen sources, "including current and former FBI officials, staff at law-enforcement and intelligence agencies, hospitality-industry workers, members of Congress, political operatives, lobbyists, and former advisers."
The report claims Patel's conduct includes "conspicuous inebriation" at venues such as Ned's in D.C. and the Poodle Room in Las Vegas. During a majority of his time heading the FBI, Patel has had attendance issues and has been "known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication," according to people in the White House, members of Congress, and FBI staffers who spoke to Fitzpatrick.
In her article, the reporter notes Patel might be concerned about his position at the FBI. She describes an incident in April when Patel was briefly locked out of the agency's internal computer system due to a technical error.
Patel panicked, assumed he had been fired, and called his aides to announce his termination. Two of his aides allegedly described the incident as a "freak-out."
The lawsuit says statements in Fitzpatrick's article "falsely assert" that Patel "is a habitual drunk, unable to perform the duties of his office, is a threat to public safety, is vulnerable to foreign coercion, has violated DOJ ethics rules, is unreachable in emergencies, has required the deployment of 'breaching equipment' to extract him from locked rooms, allows alcohol to influence his public statements about criminal investigations, and behaves erratically in a manner that compromises national security,"
The Atlantic published Fitzpatrick's report, titled The FBI Director is MIA, on Friday, April 17. The reporter conducted interviews with over two dozen sources, "including current and former FBI officials, staff at law-enforcement and intelligence agencies, hospitality-industry workers, members of Congress, political operatives, lobbyists, and former advisers."
The report claims Patel's conduct includes "conspicuous inebriation" at venues such as Ned's in D.C. and the Poodle Room in Las Vegas. During a majority of his time heading the FBI, Patel has had attendance issues and has been "known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication," according to people in the White House, members of Congress, and FBI staffers who spoke to Fitzpatrick.
In her article, the reporter notes Patel might be concerned about his position at the FBI. She describes an incident in April when Patel was briefly locked out of the agency's internal computer system due to a technical error.
Patel panicked, assumed he had been fired, and called his aides to announce his termination. Two of his aides allegedly described the incident as a "freak-out."
