Kash Patel to The Atlantic I Don't Have Drinking Problems ... See You in Court!

Published April 18, 2026 8:48 AM PDT

FBI Director Kash Patel is firing back at The Atlantic, threatening to sue after the mag published a bombshell report accusing him of boozing too much and acting paranoid.

Patel announced his intentions Friday night, telling The Atlantic and its journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick he'll see their "entire entourage of false reporting in court."

He then egged them on, adding ... "But do keep at it with the fake news, actual malice standard is now what some would call a legal lay up."

He also shared an apparent screenshot of Assistant Director for Public Affairs at the FBI Ben Williamson's initial response to Fitzpatrick's request for comment, in which he called her allegations "absurd" and slammed her for giving him a 2-hour deadline.

ICYMI, Fitzpatrick claimed in her piece published Friday that Patel has a long-term alcohol abuse issue that is worrying multiple White House officials in his orbit. She wrote, "he is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication" in the presence of Trump administration staff at the private club Ned’s in Washington, D.C., and would "drink to excess" at the Poodle Room in Las Vegas.

She further claims ... "Early in his tenure, meetings and briefings had to be rescheduled for later in the day as a result of his alcohol-fueled nights."

Fitzpatrick even says she's been told by sources his staff sometimes has a difficult time waking him up in the morning because he's "seemingly intoxicated."

Fitzpatrick also detailed an alleged "freak-out" during which he started calling aides to announce he was fired after he was unable to log into a computer system. It ended up just being a technical error.

The article alleges Patel is "paranoid" about losing his job ... but for good reason, considering The Atlantic recently published another piece saying he and other members of Trump's cabinet are in line to get the axe from the prez.

Fitzpatrick is standing by her words ... writing on X, "I spoke to 2 dozen people familiar with Patel’s conduct for this story, many of whom described it as a national security vulnerability."