The Atlantic is asking a judge to toss a lawsuit brought by FBI Director Kash Patel against the outlet over its reporting alleging excessive drinking and questioning his performance in the job.
The lawsuit, filed by Patel in April, alleges the magazine defamed him and relied on sources who were “not in a position to know the facts” and were part of an orchestrated smear campaign against him.
The Atlantic, in a statement on Monday, called Patel’s suit “meritless” and said it was asking the court to permit it to begin seeking factual discovery from the FBI and the Department of Justice — including documents and depositions of key individuals, which it called “appropriate given the allegations in this matter.”
“If Director Patel did not want to face this process, he should not have filed this suit,” the outlet’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, said. “These legal filings are consistent with the promise I made to our staff and to our readers in May: we will defend The Atlantic and its staff vigorously.”
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