This is not the defamation lawsuit Kash Patel just filed against The Atlantic. But they both have to do with reports that he has neglected his job for the sake of his drinking.
You may recall that on May 5, 2025, former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence Frank Figliuzzi told the Morning Joe show that Patel has been a no show at his job. “Reportedly, he’s been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building,” Figliuzzi said. “And there are reports that daily briefings to him have been changed from every day to maybe twice weekly.”
Patel subsequently sued Figliuzzi for defamation. A federal judge in Texas dismissed the case on Tuesday. U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks, Jr. found that Figliuzzi had employed “rhetorical hyperbole” that a “person of reasonable intelligence and learning” would not have taken literally. “Accordingly, Dir. Patel has failed to state a claim against Figliuzzi, and his lawsuit must be dismissed,” Hanks wrote.
Although the judge did not rule on the facts of Patel’s behavior, Figliuzzi’s case and the ruling highlight that reports of Patel’s dereliction due to drunkenness and partying were circulating well before The Atlantic article was published.
