FBI Director Kash Patel filed a $250 million lawsuit on Monday against The Atlantic over a piece published Friday alleging he has alarmed colleagues with excessive drinking, erratic behavior and frequent absences.

The Atlantic published a piece on Friday, headlined, “The FBI Director Is MIA,” which cited multiple anonymous sources telling the outlet that the FBI director had an “emotional outburst” related to difficulty logging into a computer system, has had “bouts of excessive drinking” and been absent enough to prompt security concerns.

The lawsuit states The Atlantic, and its staff writer, Sarah Fitzpatrick, must be held “accountable for a sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece published on April 17, 2026.” 

It continued, “Defendants are of course free to criticize the leadership of the FBI, but they crossed the legal line by publishing an article replete with false and obviously fabricated allegations designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office.” 

KASH PATEL TAUNTS SWALWELL WITH FBI SIT-DOWN AS RESIGNATION FALLOUT GROWS

Fitzpatrick reported, among other claims, that Patel has been difficult to wake up by his security team on multiple occasions because he was seemingly intoxicated.

Patel vowed over the weekend to sue The Atlantic for the story.

The suit states, “Defendants published the Article with actual malice, despite being expressly warned, hours before publication, that the central allegations were categorically false; despite having abundant publicly available information contradicting those allegations; despite obvious and fatal defects in their own sourcing; despite The Atlantic’s well-documented, long-running editorial animus toward Director Patel; despite a request for additional time to respond that Defendants refused to honor.”

FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL: WE HAVE MADE AMERICA SAFER IN JUST ONE YEAR

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

Patel took aim at the piece in a post to X on Saturday. 

“Memo to the fake news – the only time I’ll ever actually be concerned about the hit piece lies you write about me will be when you stop. Keep talking, it means I’m doing exactly what I should be doing. And no amount of BS you write will ever deter this FBI from making America safe again and taking down the criminals you love,” Patel wrote.

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Atlantic in a statement that Patel “remains a critical player on the Administration’s law and order team.” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche also threw his support behind the FBI Director, telling Fitzpatrick, “Patel has accomplished more in 14 months than the previous administration did in four years. Anonymously sourced hit pieces do not constitute journalism.”

Patel made an announcement Sunday during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” where he confirmed his intent to pursue legal action against the publication.

“Absolutely, it’s coming tomorrow,” Patel said when asked about whether he would officially file a lawsuit.

The report said Patel had been able to hang on to his job so far “because of his commitment to using the federal government to target political or personal adversaries of the president.” It also said he’s been aggressive in cracking down on employees he deems disloyal.

Patel told Bartiromo that the story was proof he was doing his job.

“We have to fight back against the fake news,” he said, adding, “I won’t tolerate their attacks on me, because in their indirect attacks on the men and women of the FBI that we’ve cleaned up, and this historic, prolific year of crime reduction across the board… They’ve never going to stop me from completing the mission that President Trump asked me to do, which is safeguarding America, and we’re doing it better than ever before.”

A Kansas man allegedly tried to kill his boat captain mid-snorkel tour in Hawaii, police say.

Hawai‘i Island police said that 21-year-old Avery Nissen of Overland Park, Kansas allegedly stabbed a 62-year-old male boat captain on Thursday during a three-hour snorkel tour. Nissen was charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and second-degree assault.

According to KHNL, the injured boat captain was identified as Stanley Lurbiecki, who is a veteran in the boating industry. Police said the 62-year-old man received numerous stab wounds to the head and hands, as well as a stab wound to the lower abdomen. The man was transported to a local hospital where he’s in stable condition.

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Police said officers responded to the incident at 3:21 p.m. on Thursday at the Honokōhau Harbor in Kailua-Kona.

Officials said other passengers onboard the boat restrained Nissen after he allegedly began attacking the man with a filet knife. Police said a motive for the alleged attack isn’t known.

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According to the report, the incident happened on a catamaran owned by Hawaii Nautical, a boat tour company.

Mark Towill, owner and president of Hawaii Nautical, told the outlet that, “Stan is stable, he’s recovering. He’s a real hero and a fighter.”

“I’m just incredibly grateful that our team is safe and that the situation ended the way it did,” Towill said. “I’ve never heard of anything like this happening in this industry before, and just really grateful to all of our team for the way that they reacted, the professionalism that was demonstrated.”

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Bail for Nissen was set at $1.57 million, and he’s expected in court on Monday afternoon.

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