Patel attorney rejects Atlantic bid to dismiss defamation suit as discovery fight continues

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is crashing out on social media over the latest development in Kash Patel’s $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic. The Atlantic filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit Monday, arguing that Patel’s suit did not  “plausibly allege” that the magazine had published any of the challenged statements with actual malice. “Complaint fails to state a viable defamation claim against Defendants,” the filing said.Journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick had reported in April that Patel was known to drink to excess, delay time-sensitive operations, behave erratically, and was often unreachable, raising concerns about whether he was a national security risk. Patel filed the lawsuit alleging the article was “replete with false and obviously fabricated allegations designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office.”In response to the latest filing, the FBI’s Rapid Response account on X posted its own rant Monday night against the publication, seemingly on behalf of its director. “The Atlantic spends its days propagating false narratives because it has zero interest in any form of real journalism. It adds no value to society except as the leading slop rag of the day,” the FBI wrote. The account then proceeded to rant about several of the FBI’s recent “historic wins.”Is it normal for a government agency to get down in the mud for its beleaguered director? In Trumpworld, maybe. The Atlantic also filed a motion to stay discovery, except for Touhy requests, allowing the publication to seek factual discovery—documents and depositions from key individuals—from the FBI and Department of Justice.“If Director Patel did not want to face this process, he should not have filed this suit,” editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg said in a statement.

The attorney for FBI Director Kash Patel slammed The Atlantic's filing aiming to dismiss his $250 million defamation lawsuit against the magazine.