Patel Lashes Out At Press Over Story Painting Him As Drunk And Awol

FBI Director Kash Patel lashed out at the news media Tuesday with a combative public rebuttal to an article that claimed his drinking had sometimes left him difficult to contact, alarming colleagues and his security detail.

Appearing before reporters for the first time since The Atlantic exposé was published last week, a defiant Patel framed the story as part of a deliberate effort to disparage him, pointed to the libel suit he filed Monday against the magazine and warned other journalists they could be next if they echo the allegations.

“I can say unequivocally that I never listen to the fake news mafia and when they get louder, it just means I'm doing my job,” Patel said in response to questions during an unrelated announcement at Justice Department headquarters. “I've never been intoxicated on the job, and that is why we filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit. And any one of you that wants to participate, bring it on.”

Patel insisted at length that he has put in more work hours than any of his predecessors and that his efforts have translated into fewer murders, more espionage arrests and fewer opioid deaths. “I'm on the job. I'm the first one in. I'm the last one out,” he said.

But the FBI chief also sought to address an image that has fueled perceptions he sometimes overindulges: video of him guzzling a beer in February while celebrating in the locker room with players of the U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey team just after they defeated Canada to take the gold medal in Milan, Italy.

“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.

During the press conference about the federal fraud indictment of a prominent civil rights group, Patel and an NBC News reporter got into a verbal tangle after the journalist pressed Patel on a claim in an Atlantic article: that after an incident where Patel could not log in to his FBI computer, he told colleagues he was concerned he was locked out because he’d been fired by President Donald Trump.

“The problem with you and your baseless reporting is that is an absolute lie. It was never said. It never happened. And I will serve in this administration as long as the president and the attorney general want me to do so,” Patel said. “I was never locked out of my systems.”

“Your lawsuit says the opposite,” the reporter, Ryan Reilly, shot back.

“Anyone that says that … is lying,” Patel replied.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche responded to a question about Patel’s alleged inebriation by criticizing the Atlantic story, which he said he had not read, for relying on anonymous sources and making inaccurate claims.

“My concerns are completely around the anonymous reporting that comes forth constantly,” Blanche said. “But when you have a bunch of people who are hiding behind closed curtains saying things we're not willing to say publicly, and there's certain parts of the article that are blatantly false, because apparently, I was told something that I wasn't. It's suspicious.”

In a statement following the filing of Patel’s lawsuit, The Atlantic defended its journalism.

“We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit,” the statement said.