First off, apologies to President Richard Nixon (1913-1994) who, in the midst of the Watergate Scandal told the American people: “I am not a crook”. Less than a year he resigned.

Current FBI director Kash Patel was the subject of an article in The Atlantic magazine (unfortunately the article is behind a paywall but it’s easy enough to find the highlights for free). The article, based on numerous interviews with numerous sources, claims that Director Patel has shown a pattern of excessive drinking both in Washington D.C. and Las Vegas.

In response Patel is now suing the Atlantic for for $250 million for defamation. Of course the easiest way to defend yourself against a defamation charge is to show that the article was accurate. But for Patel to win he has to show that the magazine either knew the article was false or used “actual malice.” In other words, he has to show the magazine intended to attack Patel and was reckless.

This comes from a now famous Supreme Court case from 1964, New York Times Company v. Sullivan. The Times was sued for minor errors in an ad that ran in the paper. They were sued by someone (Sullivan) who claimed he was defamed but he court unanimously stated that minor, honest errors don’t constitute defamation.

President Trump and many of his supporters want to have this case overturned which would allow public officials to sue more easily if they don’t like the coverage they are receiving. I don’t think Patel really expects to win this case but he knows it will make points with his boss.

Of course, if he doesn’t want this kind of coverage he could also moderate his drinking. Just sayin’