Kash Patel got into a heated exchange with a reporter who pressed the FBI director on details in his $250m libel lawsuit.
A report in The Atlantic characterized Patel as a deeply paranoid figure prone to drinking to excess and whose alleged behavior has alarmed officials inside Donald Trump’s administration.
Patel has filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the outlet and the journalist and insisted he has “never been intoxicated on the job.”
The article also alleges an incident in which a technical error with his computer access briefly locked him out, which he reportedly interpreted as being fired by the White House. Patel’s lawsuit acknowledges that he was temporarily locked out of the FBI system.
When asked by NBC News correspondent Ryan Reilly “to explain the computer login issue,” Patel responded: “The problem with you and your baseless reporting is that it is an absolute lie.
“ I was never locked out of my systems.”
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