A double whammy hit embattled FBI Director Kash Patel, who was crushed in court before a bombshell legal filing came back to haunt him just hours later.
Patel’s short tenure as FBI director has been marked by missteps and cringe-worthy public incidents in less than 16 months.
In the first gut punch Monday, a federal judge ruled Patel and President Donald Trump’s efforts at keeping the bureau’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., “unlawful,” according to The Daily Beast.
The ruling follows a fight between Maryland and Virginia to replace the decaying J. Edgar Hoover Building. In 2023, the General Services Administration decided on Greenbelt, Maryland.
After Trump gutted the U.S. Agency for International Development early in his second term, it moved out of the Ronald Reagan Building. Trump officials wanted to keep the bureau in D.C. by moving it into the vacated building.
Kash Patel Tries to Flip the Script on His Alleged Drinking Problem, and It Blows Up in His Face
But U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland Judge Theodore Chuang wrote in his decision that the FBI could not randomly pick a new building without Congressional approval.
Congress had already approved the Biden administration’s decision to move the headquarters to Maryland. And in the 2026 Appropriations Act, lawmakers blocked Trump officials from using previous funding on rehabbing the Reagan Building unless they submitted new plans.
The Washington Post reported lawmakers have not received any new plans.
Patel took a second hit hours later. His lawyers were forced to address a claim in his defamation case against The Atlantic.
In April, the outlet reported that FBI agents brought “breaching equipment” to check on Patel. It alleged he had been drinking and was absent from work.
His legal team was forced to admit that agents had “breaching equipment” with them when trying to locate a missing Patel, Raw Story reported. But The Atlantic never reported the equipment was used.
The Atlantic moved to dismiss Patel’s $250 million defamation case against it last month.
In a late-night filing Monday, Patel’s attorneys admitted agents had breaching equipment. Still, they asked the court to let the case proceed.
They stated that Patel’s lawsuit “plausibly alleges falsity” and an effort to “destroy” him so the judge should allow the case to move forward.
Social media had a field day commenting on the new developments.
“Our drunk, criminal FBI. Don’t show me any more TV shows about these crooks,” a Raw Story reader demanded.
Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg pointed out the obvious: “If Director Patel did not want to face this process, he should not have filed this suit.”
“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes,” Goldberg added.
Law & Crime reported that Goldberg had previously called the lawsuit “politically motivated retaliation” and a “meritless” action that “should be dismissed as a matter of law.”
Another reader observed, “Krash opened a can of worms he can’t finish.”
A Threads user noted, “Kash Patel never has to do any work. He’s just tangled-eyed. Das it!”
Winning a defamation case against the media is extremely difficult. The plaintiff must prove malice and that a verifiably false statement caused reputational harm.
