FBI reportedly investigating journalist whose story accused Kash Patel of erratic behavior
The FBI has reportedly launched a criminal investigation targeting a journalist from The Atlantic who recently reported on allegations about FBI Director Kash Patel’s excessive drinking and unexplained absences from work.
MS NOW first reported the investigation of Atlantic reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick, whose April 17 article cited more than two dozen anonymous sources who were concerned that Patel’s erratic behavior could compromise national security. They included current and former FBI officials, national security officials and members of Congress.
MS NOW said the investigation of Fitzpatrick is highly unusual because it did not concern the disclosure of classified information and is focused on leaks of nonclassified material to a journalist. Agents working on the case are from an FBI internal threats unit based in Huntsville, Alabama, MS NOW reported, citing two sources familiar with the investigation.
The FBI denied the report.
“This is completely false,” Ben Williamson, an FBI spokesperson, told MS NOW. “ No such investigation like this exists and the reporter you mention is not being investigated at all.
“Every time there’s a publication of false claims by anonymous sources that gets called out, the media plays the victim via investigations that do not exist,” he added.
Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s top editor, said in a statement that the magazine would back its journalist.
“If confirmed to be true, this would represent an outrageous attack on the free press and the First Amendment itself,” Goldberg said. “We will defend The Atlantic and its staff vigorously; we will not be intimidated by illegitimate investigations or other acts of politically motivated retaliation; we will continue to cover the FBI professionally, fairly, and thoroughly; and we will continue to practice journalism in the public interest.”
The investigation of a journalist by the FBI is highly unusual. Courts have broadly ruled that journalists’ information-gathering activities are protected by the First Amendment, and even seeking testimony from reporters about people who leak information is typically allowed only if other witnesses are not available.
However, under Patel, the FBI has taken aggressive actions against journalists. In January, agents raided the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, looking for information about a government contractor who allegedly leaked classified information to her. The FBI seized her computers, telephone and other devices, but a judge has prevented the bureau from examining their contents. Natanson was part of a team of Post journalists who won a Pulitzer Prize this week for stories about how the Trump administration has disrupted the federal government’s workforce.
More recently, FBI agents investigated New York Times reporter Elizabeth Williamson after she wrote an article that said the FBI had provided SWAT teams as personal security details for Patel’s girlfriend, the country singer Alexis Wilkins. The investigation, which examined whether Williamson broke federal stalking laws by asking Wilkins for an interview, apparently was dropped without charges being filed.
The Atlantic article about Patel detailed instances in which the FBI director allegedly drank to excess, could not be roused by his security detail and was missing from work for unexplained reasons.
Patel responded by filing a $250 million defamation lawsuit. against the magazine. The Atlantic has vowed to fight the suit.
“Memo to the fake news – the only time I’ll ever actually be concerned about the hit piece lies you write about me will be when you stop,” Patel wrote on X in April. “Keep talking, it means I’m doing exactly what I should be doing. And no amount of BS you write will ever deter this FBI from making America safe again and taking down the criminals you love.”
Hours after MS NOW’s story ran Wednesday, Fitzpatrick published a new story in The Atlantic about Patel’s “personalized branded bourbon.”
The article described bottles made by the Kentucky distillery Woodford Reserve, engraved with the words “KASH PATEL FBI DIRECTOR” and the FBI shield. Citing eight people who requested anonymity, including current and former FBI and Department of Justice employees, Fitzpatrick reported that Patel has given out bottles of his whiskey to FBI personnel as well as civilians, including while on official business.
The Atlantic purchased one bottle online. It said that a band of text on the bottle spells the director’s first name as “KA$H.”
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
