The FBI pushed back Wednesday against a report claiming it had opened a criminal leak investigation targeting a journalist who wrote a sharply critical profile of Director Kash Patel, calling the story false.
The outlet MS NOW reported, citing two people familiar with the matter, that the FBI had launched an investigation focusing on Atlantic reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick in connection with her article headlined "The FBI Director Is MIA." The piece, published last month, cited multiple anonymous sources who described Patel having an "emotional outburst" over difficulty logging into a computer system, experiencing "bouts of excessive drinking," and being absent enough to prompt internal security concerns. Patel quickly filed a $250 million lawsuit against The Atlantic, calling the story a "defamatory hit piece."
FBI Assistant Director for Public Affairs Ben Williamson denied the report directly. "The journalist is not being investigated — false," Williamson posted on X. "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."
The Atlantic has stood by its reporting. In response to the MS NOW story, editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg issued a statement that treated the alleged investigation as a serious threat even while its existence remained unconfirmed. "If confirmed to be true, an FBI criminal leak investigation targeting our reporter would represent an outrageous attack on the free press and the First Amendment itself," Goldberg said. "We will defend The Atlantic staff vigorously; we will not be intimidated by illegitimate investigations or other acts of politically motivated retaliation."
MS NOW noted in its original report that the alleged probe would be unusual because it did not stem from the disclosure of classified information and was focused on leaks to a reporter rather than leaks by a government official. Leak investigations have historically targeted government employees suspected of sharing state secrets or classified material. Journalists who receive such information have typically been treated as potential witnesses rather than subjects.
Williamson's denial was included in the MS NOW report itself before the FBI issued its broader public statement. Top Patel advisor Erica Knight also dismissed the story. MS NOW did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.
The Atlantic's article and the lawsuit that followed have kept Patel's management of the FBI in public focus. Patel told Fox News Digital the story was a lie and that the outlet had been given accurate information before publication and chose to print falsehoods anyway. The Atlantic has not retracted any element of its reporting.
