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‘Bring Your Checkbook’: Kash Patel Tells The Atlantic He'll See Them in Court

Brett T.
Brett T.  |  4:00 PM on April 18, 2026

The Atlantic on Friday published a hit piece on FBI Director Kash Patel, accusing him of being drunk on the job to the extent that members of his security detail have had trouble rousing him from blackouts. 

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Investigative reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick said she spoke to more than two dozen people, none of whom went on record.

Not surprisingly, MS NOW's Jen Psaki had on Fitzpatrick to talk about the story and called Patel's "bring your checkbook" line "graceful and eloquent," followed by a chef's kiss.

Patel did indeed fire back:

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"… safe again and taking down the criminals you love."

Ben Wiliamson is the assistant director of the FBI Office of Public Affairs and emailed Fitzpatrick to call her story "completely false."

So, what did Fitzpatrick actually report? Let's see:

Several officials told me that Patel’s drinking has been a recurring source of concern across the government. They said that he is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication, in many cases at the private club Ned’s in Washington, D.C., while in the presence of White House and other administration staff. He is also known to drink to excess at the Poodle Room, in Las Vegas, where he frequently spends parts of his weekends. Early in his tenure, meetings and briefings had to be rescheduled for later in the day as a result of his alcohol-fueled nights, six current and former officials and others familiar with Patel’s schedule told me.

On multiple occasions in the past year, members of his security detail had difficulty waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated, according to information supplied to Justice Department and White House officials. A request for “breaching equipment”—normally used by SWAT and hostage-rescue teams to quickly gain entry into buildings—was made last year because Patel had been unreachable behind locked doors, according to multiple people familiar with the request.

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That's former Deputy Co-Director of the FBI Dan Bongino. Patel had other backers come forward.

The post continues:

… way, it was no pressure campaign that got Kash confirmed. He did his homework, studied every brief I wrote him (and I wrote them all personally). If I sent him material at say 2am, he would respond with questions by 3am. He was always available and never hard to reach. Ultimately, he addressed any concerns senators had. He studied the law enforcement issues in each of their states and came prepared with plans, ideas, and questions for addressing the unique law enforcement needs of each state. THAT is who Kash Patel is and it’s why the FBI  has been so effective in the last year. 

I’ve never once seen him over drink. Not once. You are spinning that narrative because you know POTUS doesn’t view that favorably, even admitted as much in your story. 

And I’m not hard to find. Pretty obvious why you didn’t reach out to me for comment.

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The post continues:

… spends twice as much time in the office as either of them ever did. The so-called "intoxication incidents" The Atlantic breathlessly reports have happened exactly ZERO times. Under his tenure: 67,000 arrests nationwide. Violent crime arrests up 112%. Murder rate down 20%. 1,800 criminal gangs dismantled. 2,200+ kilos of fentanyl seized — enough to kill 178 million Americans. 300 human traffickers arrested. 6,200+ missing children recovered. 1,700 online predators arrested — a 490% increase. 8 of the Top Ten Most Wanted captured, double the previous four years combined. 1,000+ agents redeployed from DC bureaucracy back to field offices chasing criminals.

The Atlantic's "reporting"? Fabricated stories about "breaching equipment" that was never requested. Intoxication claims with not a single witness willing to put their name on one. A paragraph — I'm not kidding — about the FBI Store not carrying "intimidating enough" merchandise. Every serious DC reporter passed on this. Sarah Fitzpatrick and Jeffrey Goldberg printed it anyway.

Lawsuit is being filed.

If Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey "Suckers and Losers" Goldbereg printed it, it must be true.

Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet K. Dhillon says The Atlantic did a hit piece on her last week.

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That's sort of The Atlantic's bomb-throwing modus operandi … get some outrageous claim out there and then wait for the lawsuit. 

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