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FBI director Kash Patel files $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic (www.cnn.com)
submitted 6 months ago by to c/news@lemmy.world
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FBI director Kash Patel has sued The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick over a story that alleged Patel has “alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”

The defamation suit, filed Monday morning in US District Court in the District of Columbia, seeks $250 million in damages.

The Atlantic called the suit “meritless.”

“We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit,” a spokesperson told CNN.

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[–] 3 points 6 months ago

As a public figure, the bar to successfully win a defamation lawsuit requires proof of actual malice.

There are very, very few things I envy about the US, but this is one of them. Australian defo law is fucked; it so ridiculously favours the complainant that the respondent basically has to prove that they didn't defame them.

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