FBI Director Kash Patel filed a defamation lawsuit against MSNBC analyst Frank Figliuzzi after he claimed Patel has been in clubs more than in the Hoover Building.
Figliuzzi “fabricated a specific lie” about Patel, court documents obtained by the New York Post state, describing the analyst’s claim that he had “reportedly” been seen at “nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover Building.”
Patel’s lawyers allege in the filing that the MSNBC figure “knew that this was a lie when he said it.”
“Defendant did not rely on reporting by any other person,” the lawsuit says. “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.”
According to The Post, the filing records past instances where Figliuzzi criticized Patel. “Defendant previously wrote, ‘Patel is one of the most ill-suited Cabinet nominees—not just now, but of all time.’ And, ‘The FBI’s motto is Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity. The record suggests that Patel doesn’t possess any of those traits.’”
“Defendant also wrote, ‘It isn’t just that Patel is wholly unqualified to lead the pre-eminent law enforcement and intelligence agency in the nation and perhaps the world,” the lawsuit explains. “Patel’s particular problem goes far beyond competence: His record shows no devotion to the Constitution, but blind allegiance to Trump.”
The lawsuit further notes 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.
