The FBI has opened a criminal leak investigation into Atlantic journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick over an article she wrote that documented multiple episodes of bureau director Kash Patel‘s alleged heavy drinking and erratic behavior running the agency, according to MS NOW.
The inquiry is an “insider threat” investigation out of Huntsville, Alabama, according to MS NOW. Such investigations typically stem from leaks of classified information, not behavioral leaks to reporters.
The investigation represents the latest escalation over Fitzpatrick’s April 17 story, which relied on more than two dozen anonymous sources to claim Patel is a frequent drinker whose inebriation has sparked concern across the federal government. She reported on multiple instances where his security detail allegedly had issues waking him up after nights of excessive drinking.
Patel sued the Atlantic for $250 million the following week, alleging the story defamed him and that Fitzpatrick was told the allegations were defamatory prior to running the story. The Atlantic said it stood by its reporting.
It was unclear what investigative measures agents had taken, according to MS NOW, but such an inquiry could allow agents to look at Fitzpatrick’s phone records and social media contacts and run her name through bureau databases. It was also unclear whether the FBI had tried other ways of finding leakers before reportedly opening a criminal investigation.
FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson denied the investigation in a statement, claiming Fitzpatrick is “not being investigated at all.”
“Every time there’s a publication of false claims by anonymous sources that gets called out, the media plays the victim via investigations that do not exist,” he said.
Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg told TheWrap in a statement that, if there was an investigation, it would be “an outrageous attack on the free press and the First Amendment itself.”
“We will defend The Atlantic and its staff vigorously; we will not be intimidated by illegitimate investigations or other acts of politically motivated retaliation; we will continue to cover the FBI professionally, fairly, and thoroughly; and we will continue to practice journalism in the public interest,” Goldberg said.
The reported investigation could also represent another lever of federal power a Trump administration official has pulled against a member of the press over an unfavorable story.
The FBI reportedly opened an initial investigation into a New York Times reporter for her coverage of how Patel ordered the bureau to offer security and transportation to his girlfriend. Earlier this year, the Justice Department and FBI executed a search of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s home, and the DOJ targeted journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort after they covered an anti-ICE protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Trump has also personally sued the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the BBC since he began his second term, and he and other officials have issued threats to outlets such as CBS News and New York magazine. The Federal Communications Commission, led by Trump acolyte Brendan Carr, has launched investigations into a bevy of the president’s media enemies, including demanding last week that several of ABC’s local stations file for an early review of their broadcast licenses.
Not all of Patel’s quests have succeeded: A federal judge last month dismissed his defamation lawsuit against former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi over a comment Figliuzzi made that Patel had “been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been” at the FBI’s headquarters.
