‘Don’t Cut Me Off!’: Kash Patel Crashes Out, Calls Reporter a Liar as His Own Lawsuit Proves the Journalist Right As the AG Doubles Down on the Attack
Beleaguered FBI Director Kash Patel just can’t seem to catch a break, but critics maintain it’s his own fault. Patel, feeling the pressure squeezing in on him from all sides, snapped at a reporter at a Justice Department briefing, accusing the journalist of “lying” about a question related to a jaw-dropping story on the Trump administration official over his “excessive drinking” and “unexplained absences.”
At the briefing on Tuesday, April 21, over fraud charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center, Patel went on the defensive, melting down on NBC News’ Ryan Reilly, who tried to pin Patel down over whether he was locked out of the FBI computer and thought, as a result, President Donald Trump had fired him.
That was one of the details journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick wrote about in a scathing article about the director published in The Atlantic last week.
Fitzpatrick also wrote that “Patel has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”
But Fitzpatrick started her story with the exact detail that Reilly was trying to ask Patel about. She said, citing nine sources, that on Friday, April 10, Patel was unable to log into an internal FBI system and immediately thought he “had been locked out, and he panicked.”
She wrote that he “frantically” started calling colleagues, saying he had been “fired by the White House,” with two of the sources describing his actions as a “freak-out.” That started a cascade of talk and “expressions of relief,” Fitzpatrick said, and even the White House received calls about who was now in charge of the FBI.
Then on Monday, April 21, an angry and humiliated Patel filed a $250 million defamation suit against The Atlantic and Fitzpatrick. The news outlet called the suit “meritless,” according to CNN, adding that “we stand by our reporting on Kash Patel” and will “vigorously defend” it.
That’s the backdrop for Patel’s first public press briefing since Fitzpatrick’s story was published and he filed his lawsuit.
Reilly grilled Patel, asking, “Just explain the computer login you were not able to log into; your lawsuit contends that you were not able to log into the system. What did you think after you were unable to log into the system?”
Patel tried to hedge, asking how many people actually believed that.
But Reilly persisted, “Did you communicate with anyone that you thought you were fired after you were unable —“ but Patel cut him off and lashed out.
“The problem with you and your report, don’t cut me off,” Patel demanded as Reilly tried to interject.
“The problem with you and your baseless reporting is that is an absolute lie. It was never said, it never happened, Patel yelled.
But Reilly wouldn’t back down, pushing back and repeating his question about whether Patel was actually locked out of the system and what he thought in that moment.
“The answer to your question is you are lying. … I’ve answered your question. It’s simply as follows: I was never locked out of my systems,” an angry Patel shouted, trying to shut Reilly down.
It got so heated that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stepped in, also lashing out at Reilly.
“You’re being extraordinarily rude, and I know maybe that’s part of your profession, but please just stop,” Blanche ordered.
However, what Patel did not acknowledge was that the same lawsuit he filed, arguing about the details of the story, explicitly states that the FBI director had issues logging into the system that day.
“Director Patel had a routine technical problem logging into a government system, which was quickly fixed,” his complaint states.
However, the lawsuit disputes claims that Patel “freaked out” afterward and assumed that he was fired.
Another reporter picked up where Reilly left off, asking Patel whether he had been “intoxicated or absent during your tenure as FBI director?”
Patel denied it, bashing the media for daring to even ask about his performance.
“I can say unequivocally that I never listen to the fake news mafia. When they get louder it just means I’m doing my job,” a defensive Patel insisted, claiming he’s “been on the job twice as many days as every director before me.”
A social media frenzy erupted, with some even suggesting Patel was “sauced” during the briefing.
“He’s slurring his words. He’s sauced during this. You cannot convince me this man is sober,” a Threads user pointed out.
Another noted, “Notice Smashed Patel says the press is lying but never directly addresses the claim.”
Still another observed, “This is an old and tired trick, acting incensed at the audacity of a question in order to avoid answering it.”
Probably the most obvious point about Patel’s debacle of a press conference is this musing from Threads user Courtney Kelly, “Did he call this press conference to, uh, make himself look worse?!”