Kash Patel Slaps "Reporter" With $250 Million Defamation Lawsuit

I like the lawsuit, but, as That Guy always says, nothing's going to happen.

Judges are pretty determined that only leftwingers can be defamed.

FBI Director Kash Patel slapped The Atlantic and its reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick with a defamation lawsuit, after the outlet alleged in a report that he has a drinking problem that could pose a threat to national ‌security.

Filed on Monday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the lawsuit, which seeks $250 million, claims the magazine's story, initially titled "Kash Patel's Erratic Behavior Could Cost Him His Job," is "categorically false and defamatory."

The Atlantic, which published its exposé on Friday, cited more than two dozen anonymous sources expressing concern at Patel's "conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences" that "alarmed officials at the FBI and the Department of Justice."

The story -- the title of which now reads, "The FBI Director Is MIA" -- reported that during Patel's tenure, the FBI ​had to reschedule early meetings "as a result of his alcohol-fueled nights" and that Patel "is often away or unreachable, delaying time-sensitive decisions needed to ​advance investigations."

"Some of Patel's colleagues at the FBI worry that his personal behavior has become a threat to public safety," the article stated.

The White House, the Department of Justice and Patel denied the allegations to the magazine. The article also quoted Patel as saying, "Print it, all false, I'll see you in court -- bring your checkbook."

A rep for the magazine told The Post on Monday: "We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend 'The Atlantic' and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit."

Patel's suit alleged that The Atlantic ignored the ‌FBI's denials ⁠and did not respond to a Friday letter from his lawyer Jesse Binnall to senior editors and The Atlantic's legal department, asking for more time to refute allegations in 19 questions that Fitzpatrick sent White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.

The journo's letter was sent shortly before 4 p.m. Friday and the story was published at 6:20 p.m. that day, according to the complaint.

Lawyers for Patel claim that the Atlantic acted with "actual ​malice" -- a legal standard that ⁠requires public figures such as Patel to prove that the magazine publisher knowingly printed false information or recklessly ignored doubts about its accuracy.

"Defendants' conscious decision to ignore the detailed, specific, and substantive refutations in the Pre-Publication Letter, and their refusal to ​give a reasonable amount of time for the FBI and Director Patel to respond, is among the strongest possible ​evidence of actual ⁠malice," the lawsuit stated.

It sounds like an op, but then, a lot of people in politics drink really hard. Not as hard as "journalists," who tend to be alcoholics and pill-poppers, of course.

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Paul Sperry @paulsperry_

16h

BREAKING: Newly declassified docs reveal former Washington Post reporter Shane Harris knew the identity of the anonymous impeachment "whistleblower" as early as Sept. 20, 2019, but chose to protect Eric Ciaramella, staying mum despite calling and texting with him; yet the WaPo phoned then-RealClearInvestigations editor Tom Kuntz to complain about RCI reporter Paul Sperry breaking the story exposing Ciaramella's identity and his pro-Biden background, Democrat bias and anti-Trump motives. A known Brennan shill and purveyor of the Russiagate hoax, Harris is now with the faithfully anti-Trump mag The Atlantic.

posted by Disinformation Expert Ace at 05:10 PM

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