FBI director Kash Patel and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche have lambasted reporters who pressed the nation’s top law enforcement officials about Patel’s alleged behavior at the bureau in their first public remarks following bombshell reporting in The Atlantic.
“I never listen to the fake news mafia,” Patel said during a Tuesday press conference at the Department of Justice. “When they get louder, it just means I’m doing my job.”
The report characterizes Patel as a deeply paranoid figure prone to drinking to excess and whose alleged behavior has alarmed officials inside Donald Trump’s administration. Patel, who has filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the outlet and the journalist, whose reporting relied on interviews with more than two dozen people familiar with his behavior, insisted he has “never been intoxicated on the job.”
The article also alleges an incident in which a technical error with his computer access briefly locked him out, which he reportedly immediately interpreted as being fired by the White House — an incident that even Patel’s lawsuit acknowledges.
“Let’s have a survey. How many people believe that’s true?” Patel said when questioned about the allegations.
“The problem with you and your baseless reporting is that it is an absolute lie,” he told NBC News correspondent Ryan Reilly.
“It was never said, it never happened, and I will serve in this administration as long as the president and attorney general ask me to do so,” he said. “The simple answer to your question is, ‘You are lying.’ … I was never locked out of my systems. … Anyone that says the opposite is lying.”
But Patel’s lawsuit admits that the director experienced a “routing technical problem” with his computer.
“Director Patel had a routine technical problem logging into a government system, which was quickly fixed,” according to his complaint.
“Director Patel’s sole focus is on carrying out the administration’s law enforcement priorities,” the filing states. “Prior to publication, the FBI expressly informed Defendants that the firing rumor was a ‘made-up rumor,” and that the ‘freak-out’ and job-jeopardy claims were fabricated.”
Blanche, who is leading the Justice Department in the wake of Pam Bondi’s ousting, said he “absolutely did not” read The Atlantic’s article before ripping into the allegations inside it.
“I have a lot of concerns, and my concerns are completely around the anonymous reporting that comes forth constantly,” he said. “When an article is based on anonymous sources …. Senior DOJ personnel were informed of something … That is me. I was not informed.”
The Atlantic reports that Patel’s FBI colleagues have grown increasingly alarmed with the director’s alleged pattern of unexplained absences and excessive drinking in Washington, D.C., and in his home city of Las Vegas, violations of FBI conduct standards that could potentially leave the nation’s top law enforcement official vulnerable to coercion or exploitation.
Patel’s alleged drinking has also reportedly angered the president. Trump allegedly called Patel after the director was seen chugging beer with members of the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team in widely shared footage on social media.
Asked whether he considered that “appropriate” behavior for the FBI director, Blanche said “that has nothing to do with the article.”
“A bunch of people behind closed curtains saying things and not willing to say [them] publicly … it’s suspicious,” he said.
“I’m like an everyday American who loves his country, loves the sport of hockey, and champions my friends when they raise a gold medal and invite me in to celebrate,” Patel said. “I’ve never been intoxicated on the job, and that’s why we filed a $250 million lawsuit. Any one of you that wants to participate? Bring it on. I’ll see you in court.”
Patel’s lawsuit specifically mentions more than a dozen sentences in the article that he claims are defamatory — including allegations that he is “known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication” and that meetings are often rescheduled after his “alcohol-fueled nights.”
The claims of “erratic behavior and excessive drinking are fabricated,” according to the complaint.
The Atlantic has vowed to fight the defamation lawsuit.
“We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit,” the outlet previously told The Independent.
