A federal judge has thrown out a defamation lawsuit FBI Director Kash Patel brought against an ex-FBI employee.
Former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi had said Patel has “been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of” the bureau’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. He made the comments on the MS NOW show Morning Joe.
A federal judge in Houston on Tuesday dismissed Patel’s defamation lawsuit. “The Court finds that Figliuzzi’s statement is rhetorical hyperbole that cannot constitute defamation,” U.S. District Court Judge George Hanks Jr. wrote in the decision.
Judge Hanks, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, wrote, “A person of reasonable intelligence and learning would not have taken his statement literally: that Dir. Patel has actually spent more hours physically in a nightclub than he has spent physically in his office building.”
He added, “By saying that Patel spent ‘far more’ time at nightclubs than his office, Figliuzzi delivered his answer ‘in an exaggerated, provocative and amusing way,’ employing rhetorical hyperbole.”
“Accordingly, Dir. Patel has failed to state a claim against Figliuzzi, and his lawsuit must be dismissed.”
The judge did rule that Figliuzzi was unable to recover attorney fees and costs under Texas’s anti-SLAPP law, designed to protect First Amendment rights.
The lawsuit is not related to the $250 million defamation case Patel launched on Monday against The Atlantic. That report made allegations about his drinking, which Patel denied in a press briefing on Tuesday.
The Daily Beast has contacted the FBI and MS NOW for comment.
“A federal judge has dismissed the defamation suit filed against me by Kash Patel,” Figliuzzi stated on his Substack on Tuesday. “I’m appreciative of the judge’s ruling. This is a win for the first amendment and for a free press.”
Figliuzzi, who had been a former assistant director at the FBI, made the claims on last Friday’s Morning Joe. He works as a national security and intelligence analyst for MS NOW.
“Reportedly, he’s been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building,” Figliuzzi told co-host Jonathan Lemire. “And there are reports that daily briefings to him have been changed from every day to maybe twice-weekly.”
Figliuzzi said his FBI contacts had told him the agency was in a state of “chaos” and added, “People don’t know what’s happening from day-to-day.”
The network walked back Figliuzzi’s comments on Monday, with Lemire stating, “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.”
Patel addressed his other lawsuit on Tuesday during a wild press briefing. The FBI director filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic, accusing it of publishing false and damaging claims.
The bombshell report alleged that Patel had “alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”
During a media conference, Patel also addressed the footage of him chugging a beer with the U.S. men’s hockey team after their Olympic win in February.
“I’m like an everyday American who loves his country, loves the sport of hockey, and champions my friends when they raise a gold medal and invite me in to celebrate,” Patel said. “I’ve never been intoxicated on the job, and that’s why we filed a $250 million lawsuit. Any one of you that wants to participate? Bring it on. I’ll see you in court.”
