Posted on 04/20/2026 9:16:26 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
As RedState previously reported, the latest media hit piece against a member of the Trump administration dropped on Friday. Not surprisingly, it was from The Atlantic, the same left-leaning "news" site that ran with the infamous 2020 "suckers and losers" hoax that was debunked in part by people who were and are not exactly fond of President Trump (to put it mildly), like former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
The focus this time around was on Kash Patel, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The allegations in the piece, as we noted, centered around claims that Patel was paranoid he was going to lose his job, was frequently absent from work to the point his leadership and commitment to the job were questioned, and was prone to "excessive drinking."
Another claim described times where "breaching equipment" was allegedly requested "because Patel had been unreachable behind locked doors." Predictably, they only gave the FBI two hours to respond before going live with the piece, because journalism or something.
READ MORE: Another Day, Another Journalist Steps on a Rake in an Attempt to Take Out FBI Director Kash Patel
CBS, NBC Caught in Fake News Narrative About FBI Director Patel's Trip to Winter Olympics
As we also reported, people who worked closely with Patel strongly denied the claims on X, and on Monday, it was revealed that Patel was filing a $250,000,000 lawsuit against The Atlantic.
An analysis of the story, done by RedState's own "Florida Man" Brad Slager, zeroed in on the fact that the "bombshell" report was backfiring badly thanks in part to the fact that it is thinly sourced with multiple sources who didn't want to go on record to put their names to what they allegedly said. Further, the story reportedly was shopped around to other outlets, which didn't bite.
But Sarah Fitzgerald, a staff writer for The Atlantic, did bite on it. In hindsight, this honestly shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with a previous "blockbuster" story she did, which also had, shall we say, a lot of sourcing issues:
By the way, @S_Fitzpatrick is also the reporter who wrote the throughly debunked hit piece that claimed Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh drugged women so they could be sexually abused.
She has a history of writing hit pieces with either no sources on the record or completely discredited sources.
By the way, @S_Fitzpatrick is also the reporter who wrote the throughly debunked hit piece that claimed Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh drugged women so they could be sexually abused.
She has a history of writing hit pieces with either no sources on the record or completely discredited sources.
https://t.co/YnaE5llsJO pic.twitter.com/5HMYZVyYjl— Megan Basham (@megbasham) April 19, 2026
There are probably others, too, but that one is a biggie.
As Townhall Managing Editor Matt Vespa wrote, this is about par for the course for The Atlantic (and many other MSM outlets like the ones who ran with the Russia collusion hoax nonsense):
The Atlantic has published fake news before, so this is just typical. Still, this lawsuit should be interesting. The discovery process is likely to be entertaining when none of this turns out to be true.
I can't wait.
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Official word has already come out today: A lawsuit has been filed against the media outlet The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick. FBI Director Kash Patel has now filed the suit, delivering on his promise made over this weekend that he would do so in response to a hitpiece article published by the outlet on Friday, April 17.
The talk over the weekend that this had been a passed-around story that few outlets would touch is hinted at by Fitzpatrick’s teaming up with Jonathan Lemire from MS NOW for the piece. They claim they based this reporting on speaking with some White House officials, and as Sarah explained, it is “according to the more than two dozen people I interviewed about Patel’s conduct.”
Who these people are and what their positions entail for them to deliver empirical wisdom on these matters is a complete mystery, for, as we have become more than accustomed to, this is all relying on anonymous sourcing. This is just the beginning of the flaws in this hit piece. How is it you speak to 25 or more people, and not one of them has the stones to admit to their status?
Let us take a look at these people Fitzpatrick and Lemire relied upon for their reporting. Those White House contacts? A complete mystery, as they are nameless. So too are all of the officials at the FBI slamming Patel’s character. But more than these ciphers are cited. We are also hearing from former FBI figures, staffers from different agencies (hardly high-placed sourcing), as well as political operatives (about the least valid of the lot), lobbyists (excuse me, but what?!), and hospitality-service work. So…bartenders and waitresses are part of your sourcing?!
When you think you couldn’t possibly hate these assholes more than you already do-
You find out you can despise them even more.
The old “some say” trick.
Of course the game is to put the rumor out there, let the damage be done, and then if ultimately held accountable, apologize, pay damages, whatever - but it’s all after the fact.
My, my, times have changed. I remember when Newsweek spiked Mike Isikoff's article about the Clinton/Lewinsky affair, because they claimed they didn't have two sources to verify the story.
Just as Swalwell’s sex crimes were revealed, the Commie media invents false allegations against Kash Patel. Wait until they invent AI videos to support their smears.
And recall, the year long Russiagate media feeding frenzy was based exclusively on anonymous sources all of whom, if they even existed, turned out to be lying.
The article refers to her first as “Sarah Fitzgerald”, but then goes on to excoriate a “Sarah Fitzpatrick”. I’m guessing they mean the same individual? I have read The Atlantic exactly ZERO times in my 49 years, so I couldn’t name a single person who has ever worked for them.
Well known that Swallwell crushes his staff, yet not reported.
False claims against multiple GOP people.
While the biggest lush is Kamala by far, and not reported by DC liberal press.
Actually The Atlantic has 4 employees that are essential to their magazine and the source of today's hit piece and I shall reveal their names!
1. "Administration Insider"
2"Close source"
3"FBI-CIA"
4. Whistle blower"
Without these employees the Atlantic would have nothing to report. /S
The just make this crap up and print it, they will not say a name of the source as it does not exist. They will lose their ass in the lawsuit. I would suggest Patel release all his medical records over the years relative to liver function enzymes. That will give lie to this attack on him. I hope The Atlantic has a lot of money. They will need it.
“The jury is instructed to disregard the testimony.”
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