FBI Director Kash Patel has filed a defamation lawsuit against former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence and MSNBC columnist Frank Figliuzzi, who claimed that Patel spends more time visiting nightclubs than working at the bureau’s headquarters.
According to Just the News, Patel sued Figliuzzi in a Texas federal court on June 2. His lawyers argued that Figliuzzi “crossed the legal line by fabricating a specific lie about Director Patel.”
The MSNBC flak said of Patel on the network’s “Morning Joe” program on May 2, “Reportedly, he’s been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building. And there are reports that daily briefings to him have been changed from every day to maybe twice weekly.”
“The one word that keeps coming back at me from inside that building is ‘chaos,’” Figliuzzi added. “People don’t know what’s happening from day to day.”
According to the lawsuit, “Defendant knew that this was a lie when he said it,” The Hill reported.
“Since becoming Director of the FBI, Director Patel has not spent a single minute inside of a nightclub,” per Patel’s suit, which argues that Figliuzzi “fabricated this story to discredit Director Patel” because of Figliuzzi’s “clear animus” toward him.
On the following broadcast of “Morning Joe,” show correspondent Jonathan Lemire said, “Figliuzzi said that FBI director Kash Patel has reportedly been more visible at nightclubs than at his office at FBI headquarters. This was a misstatement. We have not verified that claim.”
Last month, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino gave an update on what the bureau has been doing to counter the illegal migrant crisis, and, at the same time, came to the defense of his boss.
The deputy director on the X platform addressed the report about Patel spending his time at nightclubs partying.
“I’d like to update you on some things that I think are going well, and some things that we can, and will, do better,” he said to begin his update.
“I have no desire to sugarcoat this one – it’s been difficult in this new role to stay relatively quiet while certain elements of the media continue to entirely fabricate stories about what we’re doing at the FBI. But that’s part of the job as a public servant. I don’t work for myself anymore, I work for the public,” he wrote, referencing the Patel rumors.
“And while I can’t address all of the nonsense in this one post, I will address the repeated attacks on Director Patel. The Director’s office is attached to mine. I am in most of the briefings he is in. He spends anywhere between 10-12 hours in the office attending meetings with everyone from foreign heads of law enforcement to our counter-terror teams, and more,” Bongino wrote.
“Any assertion otherwise is a verifiable lie designed to stop our reforms and fracture your trust. I will die on this hill. You are being clearly lied to by people with an agenda, and it’s not your agenda,” he added in his post.
Bongino also providing additional details about what’s been happening at the bureau since he was appointed No. 2 by President Trump.
“The workforce has been working overtime on task force operations to remove dangerous illegal aliens from the country. The work continues. The message is clear. If you came here illegally to prey on our citizens, your days here are numbered. These removal and incarceration operations will dramatically change the crime landscape in the country when combined with the administration’s laser-focus on sealing the border shut. Expect these operations to ramp up, not slow down,” he wrote.
“Crimes against children are a priority for the workforce. Operation ‘Restoring Justice,’ where we locked up child predators and 764 subjects, in every part of the country, is just the beginning. We are going to take your freedom if you take away a child’s innocence. Think twice if you’ve targeted children, because you’re next,” Bongino added.