Kash Patel, Trump loyalist and confirmed FBI Director, has been a target for the left since his first Trump administration days. He pushed hard to reform and expose what he calls the deep state FBI.
🚨 NOW: FBI Director Kash Patel just MIC DROPPED the fake news Q: Can you say definitively that you have not been intoxicated or absent during your tenure PATEL: “I’ve NEVER been intoxicated on the job, and that is why we filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit. And any one of… pic.twitter.com/gJbcpbLbxx
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 21, 2026
The Atlantic Hit Piece
On April 17, 2026, far-left outlet The Atlantic, bankrolled by Laurene Powell Jobs’ progressive money machine Emerson Collective, dropped a vicious smear: “The FBI Director Is MIA.” Written by Sarah Fitzpatrick, a left-wing national security reporter with a clear anti-Trump track record from NBC and 60 Minutes, the article relied entirely on more than two dozen anonymous sources to accuse Patel of excessive drinking, unexplained absences, botched meetings, and endangering national security. It painted him as erratic, drunk on the job, and unfit — classic establishment panic over a Trump pick draining the swamp.
This is the letter we sent to The Atlantic and Sarah Fitzpatrick BEFORE they published their hit piece on FBI Director @FBIDirectorKash. They were on notice that the claims were categorically false and defamatory. They published anyway. See you in court. pic.twitter.com/Ke8cqNh8hY
— Jesse R. Binnall (@jbinnall) April 17, 2026
Patel Fights Back
Patel immediately called bullshit. He denied ever being intoxicated at work, stressed he’s “first in, last out,” and highlighted actual results like falling crime numbers under his watch. On April 20 he slapped The Atlantic and Fitzpatrick with a $250 million defamation lawsuit in D.C. federal court, labeling it a malicious, rushed hit job published with actual malice to damage him and his reforms.
Defamatory speech is not free speech, and it is an honor to represent Kash Patel in this lawsuit seeking accountability for The Atlantic article’s malicious falsehoods.https://t.co/Ju0fgf6wPU
— Jesse R. Binnall (@jbinnall) April 20, 2026
The Atlantic’s Agenda
The Atlantic, under Powell Jobs’ funding since 2017, operates as an elite left-wing publication that despises Trump and anyone loyal to him. It’s not subtle: relentless anti-Trump narratives, progressive framing on culture and policy, and protection of the permanent bureaucracy. Fitzpatrick and her editors loathe Trump-world disruptors like Patel and used anonymous leaks to try taking him down early.
Current Status
As of April 22, 2026, the lawsuit is brand new. Partisan reactions split predictably — Democrats and Never Trumpers amplify the smears and demand Patel prove he’s sober; Trump supporters see it as exactly the deep state/media warfare Patel was hired to fight. No court action yet. The piece reveals The Atlantic’s mission under Jobs’ money: kneecap Trump’s agenda by any means, especially targeting loyalists cleaning house at the FBI.
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