The attorney for FBI Director Kash Patel fired back at The Atlantic on Monday over its effort to dismiss his defamation lawsuit against the magazine.Patel filed a $250 million suit in April accusing The Atlantic and its staff writer Sarah Fitzpatrick of publishing a "defamatory hit piece," outlining claims of drunken behavior as the FBI chief, which he has denied.The Atlantic both filed a motion to dismiss the suit and a motion to stay discovery on Monday "except Touhy requests" in the U.S.District Court for Washington, D.C.
Touhy requests seek "any official information for litigation purposes, including witnesses and documents, when the Government is not a party to the litigation," according to a definition shared by Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General."It’s truly incredible that The Atlantic wants one-sided discovery so that it can shield its own so-called 'sources' while being able to rummage through government documents unimpeded," Patel's attorney Jesse Binnall told Fox News Digital."This again shows that they are afraid of the truth and believe they are above the law.""We intend to prove them wrong and bring accountability to the fake news," Binnall added.FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL VOWS TO TAKE THE ATLANTIC TO COURT OVER 'DEFAMATORY' REPORTFBI Director Kash Patel spoke during a press conference at the Department of Justice on April 21, 2026.
(Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)The filing said Patel "brings this defamation action against The Atlantic for publishing an undeniably newsworthy article about his job performance that he finds politically inconvenient." It also calls out the FBI director's other defamation lawsuits against other outlets, claiming he "sends an ominous message to the press: publishing reporting that he does not like comes at a high cost," adding, "These tactics strike at the very foundation of the First Amendment.""The Motion to Dismiss filed today by The Atlantic explains why this lawsuit is meritless and...