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Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) defended FBI Director Kash Patel on Monday following a report in The Atlantic alleging Patel has engaged in excessive alcohol use and other behaviors that have alarmed colleagues at the bureau.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know anything about his drinking. I\u2019ve not heard any rumors or heard any concerns,\u201d McCormick told reporter Pablo Manr\u00edquez, who asked whether Patel\u2019s \u201cdrinking\u201d was a national security concern. \u201cI think he\u2019s executing his job brilliantly up to this point, so I don\u2019t see why that would even be a controversial thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as it doesn\u2019t affect his job in a negative way, I\u2019m cool,\u201d the Georgia Republican added.<\/p>\n
Patel filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the magazine on Monday, days after it published a profile detailing an alleged pattern of drinking, unexplained absences and paranoia about losing his job. <\/p>\n
The story, titled\u00a0\u201cThe FBI Director Is MIA,\u201d cited conversations with more than two dozen people, including current and former FBI officials, members of Congress, hospitality-industry workers and others.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information and private conversations, they described Patel\u2019s tenure as a management failure and his personal behavior as a national-security vulnerability,\u201d reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick wrote.<\/p>\n
It stated that Patel has been known \u201cto drink to the point of obvious intoxication\u201d in front of White House and other Trump administration staff and that on multiple occasions within the past year, \u201cmembers of his security detail had difficulty waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officials were also cited saying the FBI director had been \u201can irregular presence\u201d at the agency\u2019s headquarters and was \u201coften away or unreachable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patel and his legal team slammed the allegations as \u201cfalse\u201d and telegraphed plans to sue over the weekend, with the FBI director saying a lawsuit was \u201ccoming tomorrow\u201d when asked about the possibility during a Sunday morning appearance on Fox News.<\/p>\n
The complaint argues that the article\u2019s sources were \u201cnot in a position to know the facts,\u201d framing the story as part of a broader smear campaign against the bureau chief.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Article itself reveals that Defendants understood their sources were animated by hostility. Defendants relied on \u2018former advisers\u2019 and \u2018political operatives\u2019 \u2014 categories of sources with obvious axes to grind,\u201d the\u00a0defamation\u00a0suit states.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for The Atlantic defended its reporting in a statement on Monday, writing that the magazine would \u201cvigorously defend\u201d its journalists against the \u201cmeritless\u201d lawsuit.<\/p>\n
Patel\u2019s alleged drinking habits came under renewed scrutiny in recent months after a viral video showed him partying and chugging beers with players in the Team USA locker room following their victory against Canada on the final day of the Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n
The controversy also comes after three top officials have departed the administration in recent weeks \u2014 including former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, former Attorney General Pam Bondi and most recently, outgoing Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer \u2014 amid criticism.<\/p>\n
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