Politics

FBI Director Kash Patel has filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic after the magazine published an article about his tumultuous and embarrassing tenure as America’s top cop. The article reports that Patel has “alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences,” and it really just gets better from there. I believe every word of it—partially because it confirms my biases, partially because it’s so well sourced (writer Sarah Fitzpatrick spoke to more than two dozen people), and partially because the Trump administration is full of incompetent people who’ve found stunning new ways to express that incompetence.

What’s particularly neat is how the defamation lawsuit itself confirms one of the central claims of the article. Fitzpatrick writes that people who work with Patel are concerned by Patel’s impulsive behavior, and his lawsuit is nothing if not impulsive. It should get thrown out on its ear. And even though there are some Republicans on the Supreme Court eager to follow Trump’s directive to “open up libel laws,” this lawsuit is not going to be that vehicle. It’s way too stupid.

First of all, Patel is a public figure. Undeniably so. As such, he has to meet a higher standard than a private person to prevail in a defamation suit. He has to show that The Atlantic’s story is false, and that The Atlantic showed “actual malice” when publishing the article. “Actual malice” is a bit of legal jargon that generally means that a publication either knew the story was untrue or should have known but published it anyway.

Speaking to over two dozen people is a great way for a reporter to avoid a finding of malice. That’s especially true in this case, where the story is really about what Patel’s colleagues are worried about. The Atlantic didn’t claim that Patel drinks too much; it published an article saying that his colleagues think he drinks too much, and it’s got numerous people backing up that claim. I don’t think there’s any way Patel can prove malice on the part of The Atlantic.