FBI Director Kash Patel targets press

May 7, 2026 | Patel orders polygraphs for his security detail, other staff

May 6, 2026 | FBI investigates reporter who wrote about Patel’s alleged excess drinking

April 20, 2026 | Patel sues The Atlantic for defamation

Feb. 28, 2026 | FBI investigates reporter who wrote about Patel’s girlfriend

May 7, 2026 | Patel orders polygraphs for his security detail, other staff

FBI Director Kash Patel has ordered polygraphs for more than two dozen members of his security detail and other staff as part of his quest to unmask those who’ve spoken with the press, MS NOW reported on May 7, 2026.

Following an April 17 article by Atlantic reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick on Patel’s alleged excessive drinking, erratic behavior and absences from the agency’s headquarters, the FBI director has sued the magazine and Fitzpatrick, and opened an investigation into her.

According to MS NOW, Patel has also isolated himself from some senior bureau leaders. FBI spokesman Ben Williamson disputed those claims, telling MS NOW Patel has been regularly meeting with operational leaders. Williamson declined to comment, however, on whether Patel ordered polygraphs.

Patel had previously announced the use of polygraphs to identify the sources behind leaks to the media in April 2025, and similar efforts have been undertaken by other agency heads.

May 6, 2026 | FBI investigates reporter who wrote about Patel’s alleged excess drinking

The FBI is conducting a criminal leak investigation focused on Atlantic journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick, MS NOW reported on May 6, 2026, following her exclusive reporting on Director Kash Patel’s alleged excessive drinking, erratic behavior and absences from the agency’s headquarters.

Fitzpatrick’s article, published April 17, reported that Patel’s conduct on the job has included “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences,” and that more than two dozen sources, including current and former FBI officials, “described Patel’s tenure as a management failure and his personal behavior as a national-security vulnerability.”

Patel sued The Atlantic and Fitzpatrick for defamation April 20, claiming that the article’s allegations were “designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office,” and demanding $250 million in damages.

MS NOW reported that two sources close to the matter confirmed that an investigation focusing on Fitzpatrick was underway, though FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson denied its existence. Such an investigation could enable federal agents to obtain her phone records, examine her social media networks and run her name through the bureau’s databases.

In an email to subscribers, Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg wrote that such an investigation, if true, would be disturbing. But, he added, the magazine will defend itself 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,” Goldberg continued.

“This isn’t our first rodeo. We’ve faced extraordinary government pressure, and Trump-administration calumny, before. We live in a period in which some media organizations buckle under government pressure. I promise you that we will never give in. If a story is true, we will publish it.”

April 20, 2026 | Patel sues The Atlantic for defamation

Attorneys for FBI Director Kash Patel sued The Atlantic and its reporter, Sarah Fitzpatrick, on April 20, 2026, accusing them of defaming him in an article about Patel’s alleged erratic behavior and poor job performance.

Fitzpatrick’s article, published April 17, reported that Patel’s conduct on the job has included “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences,” and that more than two dozen sources, including current and former FBI officials, “described Patel’s tenure as a management failure and his personal behavior as a national-security vulnerability.”

Patel’s lack of availability has exacerbated bureaucratic delays at the FBI, Fitzpatrick reported, and his alleged excessive drinking may have led to his sharing inaccurate information about active law enforcement investigations.

Fitzpatrick quoted a statement from the FBI, attributed to Patel, responding to her list of questions: “Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court—bring your checkbook.”

The day the article was published, Patel’s attorney Jesse Binnall posted a letter on social platform X that he said he had sent to The Atlantic and Fitzpatrick, alleging that Fitzpatrick’s questions had contained false claims and threatening legal action if those claims were published.

Three days later, Patel’s attorneys filed their complaint in federal court for defamation, claiming that the article’s allegations were “designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office,” and that the article’s publication was done with “actual malice,” and demanded $250 million in damages.

“The statements,” the complaint argued, “falsely assert that the Director of the FBI—the nation’s chief federal law-enforcement officer—is a habitual drunk, unable to perform the duties of his office, is a threat to public safety, is vulnerable to foreign coercion, has violated DOJ ethics rules, is unreachable in emergencies, has required the deployment of ‘breaching equipment’ to extract him from locked rooms, allows alcohol to influence his public statements about criminal investigations, and behaves erratically in a manner that compromises national security.”

The Atlantic responded to the suit on X, writing: “We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit.”

Feb. 28, 2026 | FBI investigates reporter who wrote about Patel’s girlfriend

The FBI investigated New York Times reporter Elizabeth Williamson after she published a report on Feb. 28, 2026, that the agency’s director, Kash Patel, had provided unprecedented transportation and security resources for his girlfriend.

FBI agents searched databases for information on Williamson and recommended further investigation to determine whether she had broken federal stalking laws while reporting the story, the Times reported April 22.

Justice Department officials, however, “determined there was no legal basis to proceed with the investigation,” and the FBI dropped the case.

Williamson had reported that Patel’s girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, has been assigned an escort of SWAT personnel and that “Mr. Patel’s demand that rotating SWAT teams provide his girlfriend with security for singing appearances, personal engagements and errands is unprecedented in the F.B.I.”

The day the article was published, Wilkins received a threatening, anonymous email, which she forwarded to the FBI, the Times wrote. The email’s alleged sender was later criminally prosecuted and said they had sent the email after reading Williamson’s article, according to an affidavit in the case.

The FBI then interviewed Wilkins, who said she felt “harassed” by Williamson’s reporting, which had involved reaching out to numerous people who knew her. Agents then launched the investigation into Williamson, citing laws against stalking and threats as justification.

Times Executive Editor Joseph Kahn called the investigation “alarming,” telling the paper, “The F.B.I.’s attempt to criminalize routine reporting is a blatant violation of Elizabeth’s First Amendment rights and another attempt by this administration to prevent journalists from scrutinizing its actions.”