Kash Patel responds with legal notice to ‘wild drinking’ allegation, calls report ‘completely false’

A legal dispute has erupted between FBI Director Kash Patel and Sarah Fitzpatrick following the publication of a report by The Atlantic alleging misconduct. Patel’s legal team has threatened court action, releasing a pre-publication letter that strongly disputes the claims. The letter, dated April 17, 2026, was authored by Patel’s attorney Jesse Binnall and accuses the magazine of preparing to publish “categorically false and defamatory assertions”. “This is the letter we sent… BEFORE they published their hit piece,” Binnall wrote on X, adding, “They were on notice… They published anyway. See you in court.”

In the letter, Binnall’s firm said that it warned the publication that its draft article contained at least 19 claims, “most of which are false, unsourced, and facially defamatory”. The legal communication rejects allegations that Patel engaged in excessive drinking, became difficult to contact during key moments, or required intervention after becoming unresponsive behind locked doors.

It also disputes claims that his conduct posed a risk to public safety or delayed critical counterterrorism decisions. According to the letter, officials from the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs had already dismissed the allegations as “completely false at a nearly 100 per cent clip”.

Binnall further criticised the report’s sourcing, arguing that reliance on unnamed individuals described as “people familiar with the matter” undermines its credibility and fails to meet journalistic standards.

What did the report say?

The dispute follows a detailed report by Fitzpatrick, which cited multiple unnamed current and former officials alleging that Patel engaged in excessive drinking, erratic behaviour and unexplained absences. The article claims his alleged conduct raised concerns within national security circles and may have affected his availability for briefings.

Among the allegations, the report stated that Patel was “known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication”, including at private venues such as Ned’s Club in Washington and the Poodle Room in Las Vegas, sometimes in the presence of White House and administration staff. The report also points to what it describes as internal unease within the FBI and the Department of Justice regarding leadership stability.