FBI Director Kash Patel hit back Saturday against a magazine story that portrayed him as a hard-drinking boss who misses work and acts erratically.
The Atlantic published the piece on Friday, April 17, and said Patel drinks too much at spots in Washington and Las Vegas.
The publication claimed colleagues at the FBI and Justice Department worry about his conduct and unexplained absences.
The magazine quoted some sources who said that meetings got pushed to later dates because of late nights with alcohol.
Others said his security team once had trouble waking him and even asked for breaching gear to open a locked room.
The article, written by Sarah Fitzpatrick, quoted more than two dozen people. It described Patel as paranoid about getting fired.
It pointed to one day in April when he could not log into a computer system and thought he had been ousted.
That sparked calls to the White House and Congress about who was running the FBI. It turned out to be a tech fault.
Patel speaks.
The FBI boss took to his X account to post a statement calling the report “fake news.”
“Memo to the fake news — the only time I’ll ever actually be concerned about the hit piece lies you write about me will be when you stop,” he wrote.
“Keep talking, it means I’m doing exactly what I should be doing. And no amount of BS you write will ever deter this FBI from making America safe again and taking down the criminals you love.”
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His lawyer sent a letter to The Atlantic before the story ran. It called the claims “categorically false and defamatory.”
Patel himself told the magazine, “Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court, bring your checkbook.”
After the piece dropped, he doubled down with a fresh threat of a lawsuit and said the “actual malice standard” would make it easy to win in court.
Patel took over the bureau after President Trump returned to the White House. He has pushed to shift the agency’s focus toward what the administration sees as real threats.
However, critics say he targets political enemies, whereas supporters say he finally cleans up a deep state that went after Trump for years.
The Atlantic story.
It said Patel spends weekends in Las Vegas and drinks heavily at the Poodle Room. In Washington, he hits Ned’s, a private club, sometimes with White House staff around.
Sources claimed he has shown up obviously drunk. Early in his time as director, briefings got rescheduled after those nights, the magazine reported.
Some officials described his behavior as a risk to national security. They said unexplained absences left the FBI devoid of clear leadership at key moments. One incident involved his security detail struggling to reach him behind locked doors.
So far, The Atlantic has stood by its reporting, saying the details came from people close to the situation who described real worries inside the bureau.
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Patel has not addressed the specific allegations point by point. Instead, he depicted the attacks as proof he is on the right track.
“Keep talking,” he said, suggesting the criticism only confirms he is targeting the right people.
This is not the first time Patel has faced scrutiny. He built a name as a Trump loyalist who accused the FBI of bias in past investigations.
His appointment drew praise from conservatives and sharp pushback from Democrats who called him unqualified.
By Saturday, the FBI had not released an official comment on the report.
