Georgia Rep. Rich McCormick defended FBI Director Kash Patel on Monday after The Atlantic published a report accusing him of excessive drinking and other behavior that alarmed FBI colleagues.
“I didn’t know anything about his alcoholism. I didn’t hear any rumors, I didn’t hear any concerns,” McCormick told reporter Pablo Manriquez, who asked whether Patel’s “alcoholism” posed a national security issue. “I think he’s done a great job so far, so I don’t see why this would be a controversial thing.”
“As long as it doesn’t negatively impact his job, I’m fine with it,” the Georgia Republican added.
On Monday, Patel filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the magazine, days after the magazine published a profile detailing his drinking habits, unexplained absences and paranoia about losing his job.
The report, titled “FBI Director Missing,” cited conversations with more than two dozen people, including current and former FBI officials, members of Congress, hospitality industry workers and others.
“On the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information and private conversations, they characterized Patel’s tenure as a failure of management and his personal actions as national security lapses,” reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick wrote.
The statement said that Patel was known to “drink to the point of being visibly intoxicated” in front of the White House and other Trump administration staff, and that on multiple occasions over the past year, “his security personnel had difficulty waking up Patel because he appeared to be intoxicated.”
Officials also cited the FBI director as “sporadically present” at the agency’s headquarters and “frequently unavailable or unavailable.”
Patel and his legal team blasted the accusations as “false” and telegraphed plans to file a lawsuit over the weekend, with the FBI director saying the lawsuit “will come tomorrow” when asked about the possibility in an interview on Fox News on Sunday morning.
The complaint alleges that the article’s sources had “no access to the facts” and viewed the report as part of a broader smear campaign against the bureau chief.
“The article itself demonstrates that Defendants understood that their sources were motivated by animosity. Defendants relied on ‘former advisers’ and ‘political operatives’ — source categories with clear purposes,” the defamation lawsuit states.
A spokesperson for The Atlantic defended its reporting in a statement Monday, saying the magazine will “vigorously defend” its journalists against “baseless” lawsuits.
Patel’s alleged drinking habits have come under renewed scrutiny in recent months after a widely circulated video showed him partying and drinking beers with players in the U.S. locker room after the U.S. beat Canada on the final day of the Winter Olympics.
The controversy also comes after three top officials left the administration in recent weeks — including former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, former Attorney General Pam Bondi and, most recently, outgoing Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Dremer — amid criticism.
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