FBI director Kash Patel sues reporter for 'nightclub' smear
Frank Figliuzzi, ex-assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI after serving as a special agent for 25 years, said on Morning Joe last month that Patel spends much of his time out clubbing.
Just days later, the show and the network were forced to retract and admit that there was no evidence.
Now, Patel has filed a defamation lawsuit against Figliuzzi, who the FBI Director says was 'fabricating a specific lie' about him, citing the nightclub comment.
Patel's lawyers claim in the suit, filed in Texas, that Figliuzzi 'knew that this was a lie when he said it.'
Furthermore, they make a point of saying that 'since becoming Director of the FBI, Director Patel has not spent a single minute inside of a nightclub.'
'[T]here was no basis for Defendant's fabrication, and Defendant's use of the weasel word, 'reportedly,' is itself a fabrication,' the suit alleges.
'Defendant did not rely on reporting by any other person. Defendant made up the story out of whole cloth, and by using the word 'reportedly,' attempts to distance himself from what is a maliciously false and defamatory statement.'
Frank Figliuzzi (pictured), ex-assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI after serving as a special agent for 25 years, said on Morning Joe last month that Patel spends much of his time out clubbing
They also claim that Figliuzzi made up the rumor because he has a 'clear animus' toward Patel, slamming his credentials for the job in a column previously, The New York Post reports.
Ultimately, the plaintiff alleges that 'as a partisan commentator, (Figliuzzi) was motivated to sensationalize, and in this case, fabricate a story to self-promotingly advance his own name recognition, at the expense of Director Patel.'
The network declined comment on the matter when reached by DailyMail.com Tuesday afternoon.
Figliuzzi made the allegation in early May, just months into Patel's tenure as FBI Director, appointed by Donald Trump.
'Reportedly, he's been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building,' Figliuzzi said on Morning Joe.
Liberal journalist and co-host Jonathan Lemire introduced the mea culpa the following Monday, mentioning that Figliuzzi had been on the show before explaining that he had nothing.
'At the end of that segment, Figliuzzi said that FBI Director Kash Patel has been more visible at nightclubs than the FBI headquarters. This was a misstatement. We have not verified that claim,' Lemire said.
Lemire then tossed to commercial break without any apology.
The FBI has declined comment on the matter. DailyMail.com has reached out to both the White House and MSNBC for comment.
Figliuzzi told Lemire Friday that Patel frequents nightclubs more than he does the seventh floor of the Hoover building, where the FBI offices are located.
'And there are reports that daily briefings to him have been changed from every day to maybe twice weekly,' he added.
Figliuzzi explained that Patel's absence is a 'blessing and a curse,' due to his lack of experience in the field.
'If he's really trying to run things without his experience, without any experience level, things could be bad. If he's not plugged in, things could be bad. But he's allowing agents to run things so we don't know where this is going,' Figliuzzi confessed.
The former FBI assistant director claimed Patel frequently splits his time between the office in Washington, DC, and his home in Las Vegas, citing reports from the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
Figliuzzi added that he's heard Patel decreased briefings from a daily schedule to only twice a week.
He concluded that the one word he keeps hearing in his circles is 'chaos' and revealed that employees don't know what's happening.
Patel was an unlikely pick for the position, having no experience as an FBI agent. He began his career as a public defender and served in the Department of Justice as a national security prosecutor.
He was also an advisor on national security and senior counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Patel founded The Kash Foundation and served as deputy director of National Intelligence before he was confirmed as the ninth Director of the FBI.
He's had a rocky journey thus far, coming under fire last week for announcing the arrest of Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan.
'Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week,' Patel wrote on his official X account.
'We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest.'
The post was then mysteriously deleted before it was reposted two hours later without explanation.
Judge Dugan was arrested and charged with two felony counts of obstruction and concealing an individual for allegedly helping an undocumented migrant from getting arrested after he appeared in her courtroom.
Patel also came under fire from Senate Democrats who recently launched an inquiry into his personal travel on a government aircraft, CBS News reported.
Rumors swirled that Patel used the FBI's private fleet of jets to visit his girlfriend and attend sporting events, including a UFC fight and a hockey game, where he was pictured sitting next to Wayne Gretzky.
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