APRIL 2026 – It’s only three days since The Atlantic has published “The FBI Director is MIA” and already the report has exploded across the internet and triggered a defamation lawsuit from the story’s subject, Kash Patel. Now, it’s altogether possible Sarah Fitzpatrick got fed bad info from her many anonymous sources, but we doubt Jeffrey Goldberg’s journalism juggernaut would let that happen, and not vet the reporting vigorously. Two months ago the WSJ came out with a similar report on the day-to-day behavior of Kristi Noem, from sources largely originating from the White House. This time the reports of Patel’s drinking and paranoia and unexplained absences are coming from sources – many sources – at both DOJ and the FBI. Patel today is talking a big game about his lawsuit – but the likelihood of meaningful follow through strikes us as low. Like Trump, Patel runs the risk of depositions revealing a situation even worse that what The Atlantic describes.
It starts with a small but still damning anecdote:
On Friday, April 10, as FBI Director Kash Patel was preparing to leave work for the weekend, he struggled to log on to an internal computer system. He quickly became convinced that he had been locked out, and he panicked, frantically calling aides and allies to announce that he had been fired by the White House, according to nine people familiar with his outreach. Two of these people described his behavior as a “freak-out.”
Patel oversees an agency that employs roughly 38,000 people, including many who are trained to investigate and verify information that can be presented under oath in a court of law. News of his emotional outburst ricocheted through the bureau, prompting chatter among officials and, in some corners of the building, expressions of relief. The White House fielded calls from the bureau and from members of Congress asking who was now in charge of the FBI.
Fitzpatrick came out of television – most recently she worked at NBC – before joining The Atlantic. That’s no points against her, and she likely has the Rolodex to confidently produce such an explosive piece. We’ll revoke the Rosebud for Fitzpatrick if her story proves wrong, but like everyone else we doubt it will be.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/04/kash-patel-fbi-director-drinking-absences/686839/