Kash Patel, the 46-year-old man whom Donald Trump appointed as FBI director, is suing The Atlantic for $250 million over its recent bombshell article which cited over 24 sources alleging Patel’s heavy drinking, chronic absenteeism, and erratic behavior.
Kash hired lawyer Jesse Binnall to sue the publication for allegedly making false and defamatory statements. However, as longtime GOP strategist Rick Wilson pointed out, Binnall has a bit of a “losing streak” when it comes to these cases.
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Binnall filed a defamation suit against CNN for its bombshell September 2024 report exposing former North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) and his history of racist, pro-Nazi, and homophobic comments on adult websites. Robinson withdrew the suit before a judge ever heard it and called the suit a “futile effort.”
Binnall represented family members of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn in their $100 million defamation lawsuit against CNN for allegedly falsely linking them to believers of the anti-LGBTQ+ QAnon conspiracy theory, but the lawsuits were dismissed by federal judges.
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Former U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) hired Binnall to sue Esquire in 2019 for implying his Iowa dairy farm used undocumented labor, Wilson wrote. Then, legal discovery in that lawsuit proved that his farm did, in fact, use undocumented labor, the strategist noted. A federal judge tossed out the lawsuit in 2023.
Wilson also called Patel’s lawyer part of “Trump’s post-2020 legal clown show” who failed to deliver on Trump’s false claims to overturn that year’s presidential election. Over 60 judges, including ones appointed by Trump himself, tossed out the cases due to lack of evidence and standing.
“Binnall isn’t just a bad bet. He’s a legal losing streak with a law degree,” Wilson wrote, adding, “[The Atlantic] is going to tear [Binnall] apart, and I’m here for it.”
“We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit,” an Atlantic spokesperson told The Advocate.
Before becoming FBI director, Patel appeared as a guest on the podcasts of several anti-LGBTQ+ MAGA figures, including former White House advisor and convicted fraud Steve Bannon and Stew Peters, an anti-LGBTQ+ influencer who once baselessly accused a gay father of raping his own children.
Patel made international headlines last February after video emerged of him chugging beer, shouting, and pounding a table inside the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team after they won the gold medal.
More recently, Patel submitted a congressional budget request in order to target LGBTQ+ “terrorists” and combat so-called “gender extremism.” LGBTQ+ advocates worry it’s just the latest step in the administration’s attempt to surveil, harass, and imprison queer rights activists.
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