A MAGA congressman has leaped to the defense of FBI Director Kash Patel after The Atlantic accused him of drinking to excess in a profile last week, dismissing the scandal as inconsequential.
Patel, who has rubbished the magazine’s report as a “hit piece,” announced Monday he is suing it for defamation, seeking $250 million in damages.
“Defendants are of course free to criticize the leadership of the FBI, but they crossed the legal line by publishing an article replete with false and obviously fabricated allegations designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office,” his lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.
Asked about the situation on Capitol Hill, Georgia Republican Rep. Rich McCormick told MeidasTouch reporter Pablo Manriquez he saw no reason to regard the allegations against Patel as a “national security concern.”
“I don’t know anything about his drinking,” McCormick said. “I’ve not heard any rumors or heard any concerns. I think he’s executing his job brilliantly up to this point, so I don’t see why that would be a controversial thing.”
Pressed on Patel being seen chugging beer with members of the victorious U.S. men’s ice hockey team at the Winter Olympics in February, McCormick insisted that what people get up to in “their spare time” is “their business.”
“So, I’ll tell you as a [inaudible] Marine, I’ve seen plenty of guys drink and have fun,” he said. “When they are on their spare time, that’s their business.
“I bet you there are a lot of Americans out there who take offense to that: Does that mean I can’t go party with my friends and then go do my job during the week time? I don’t think that’s really fair. As long as it doesn’t affect his job in a negative way, I’m cool.
“I’ll tell you, when I was with my rugby buddies back in the day, on occasion I’d like to go out and have fun with those guys and let my hair down and be one of the guys. I think there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Patel appeared on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo over the weekend and not only disparaged The Atlantic’s reporting but also claimed to have “evidence” that would finally prove President Donald Trump’s long-standing claim that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him by a vast nationwide conspiracy.
Rumors have swirled around Washington in recent days that Trump could be about to fire Patel, despite having lost three members of his cabinet – Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, and now Lori Chavez-DeRemer – in relatively quick succession.
The prospect of Patel being able to deliver on a pet cause close to the president’s heart could buy him a stay of execution.
However, Trump is equally known to disapprove of drinking, after losing his brother to alcoholism and abstaining from alcohol throughout his life, and may prefer to avoid dragging the scandal out further.
Nearly 30,000 people have already signed a MoveOn petition demanding an inquiry into Patel’s alleged misconduct.
Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar signaled Monday that the Senate Judiciary Committee is moving in precisely that direction.
“We must have an immediate hearing with Kash Patel,” she told Erin Burnett during an interview on CNN. “If he says, ‘See you in court,’ I think he should also say, ‘See you in the Judiciary Committee.’
“It’s not a surprise that his response, instead of either resigning or giving his facts out there, he attacks and sues in court. This is what this administration does.
“There’s a constant attack on journalism in the media, and it’s time and time again these suits by Donald Trump and others are ultimately thrown out.”
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