By Maria Akaras & Emmie Meeks
Elm Staff Writer & Outgoing Opinion Editor
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel filed a lawsuit on April 20 against The Atlantic over a story they published three days prior which claimed Patel frequently partook in excessive drinking and other alarming displays, including unexplained absences from FBI headquarters and erratic behaviors. The lawsuit, which is $250 million for defamation against both The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick.
Patel, who came under fire earlier in the year after a video from the U.S. men’s hockey team celebration at the Milan-Cortina Olympics showed him chugging a beer and spraying alcohol around the locker room, insisted in the complaint that all of the claims in the article were false and had been denied by FBI personnel before the article was published.
Patel’s lawsuit is another in a series of cases by the Trump administration that is attempting to punish journalists and media outlets through the court system. The defendants in these lawsuits are almost always outlets that write or broadcast something unflattering about Trump and his associates. For example the Trump administration has already sued The New York Times, the BBC, CNN, The Des Moines Register, and The Wall Street Journal.
However, a federal judge dismissed The Wall Street Journal case on April 13. The administration’s motive seems to be less concerned with actually winning defamation suits, and more intent on making journalists and media outlets think twice before publishing anything negative about Trump or the administration; lawsuits are costly and can be financially devastating for media companies to defend themselves.
In this case, Patel’s suit goes after The Atlantic for relying on anonymous sources, framing that as proof the reporting was fabricated. However, anonymous sources are synonymous to fake sources. Asking FBI employees to go on the record about the current FBI director is not a realistic standard.
Patel has fired several FBI employees who worked on investigations connected to Trump. People who were impacted by or witnessed the post Jan. 6 purges at the FBI saw colleagues get fired for doing their jobs.
Patel’s complaint against the publication does make one point worth noting. The Atlantic gave the FBI less than two hours to respond to 19 detailed allegations before publishing. Patel’s legal team sent a letter before the article was published disputing specific claims and asking for more time.
They published anyway without acknowledging the letter.
Even if the small comment window is regarded as less than adequate, it is still not an indicator of defamation.
As a public figure, Patel faces a very high legal bar to prove defamation.
According to The New York Times, Patel “must show not only that there were falsehoods in the article, but also ‘actual malice’ — a legal standard that means that the defendants published defamatory material either while knowing it was false or with reckless disregard as to its truth.”
Patel’s lawsuit denies the claims written by Fitzpatrick, but provides little evidence to the contrary. His position in Trump’s cabinet is also not jeopardized by the findings in the article. As long as Patel remains loyal to Trump, he will not be fired.
The Director of the FBI has the tools at his disposal to refute claims against him. He should not need to file through the district court system to prove that he is innocent. Patel’s choice to do so reflects a conscious effort to punish and discourage First Amendment rights.
By filing his case in D.C. court, Patel plants doubt in readers’ minds even if the case never goes anywhere. He reinforces the narrative of fake news and undermines the public’s trust in media publications and journalists. The threat of a lawsuit also makes the next reporter and publication think a little harder before publishing something negative and potentially damning about anyone in the Trump administration.
The constitutional protection of the press under the First Amendment that prevents the government from punishing or suppressing news organizations for what they publish is at stake. Whether or not Patel and The Atlantic get their day in court, weaponizing the court system against journalists threatens a foundational principle of our democracy.
Photo Caption: Patel’s lawsuit raises questions surrounding freedom of the press.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons