FBI Director Kash Patel files $250m lawsuit against The Atlantic

FBI Director Kash Patel files $250m lawsuit against The Atlantic 39 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleKayla EpsteinGetty ImagesFBI Director Kash Patel has filed a $250m (£185m) defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic, accusing the magazine of publishing false and damaging claims about his conduct in office.Patel alleges that the magazine published harmful claims, including accusations of excessive drinking and unexplained absences from duty.The article, citing sources, also alleged that Patel's conduct created a risk to public safety and national security.The Atlantic has defended its reporting. To win a defamation suit in the US, public officials must demonstrate that a publisher acted with actual malice."We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit," the magazine said in a statement. Patel appeared on Fox News on Sunday to respond to the report, and vowed he would file a lawsuit.The lawsuit stated that the story included "false and obviously fabricated allegations designed to destroy Director Patel's reputation and drive him from office".It lists a number of excerpts from the article that it alleges are "false and defamatory statements of fact".It also alleges that The Atlantic did not give Patel adequate time to respond to a detailed list of allegations in the article, and ignored a "pre-publication" letter sent by his legal representative. The lawsuit states The Atlantic gave the parties two hours to respond."They were on notice that the claims were categorically false and defamatory. They published anyway, "Jesse Binnell, an attorney representing Patel posted on X, along with a letter he sent to The Atlantic.The US Supreme Court in 1964 ruled that to win a defamation suit, public officials must demonstrate that a publisher exhibited "actual malice" in publishing the report - meaning the news...