Kash Patel's Personalized Bourbon Stash(theatlantic.com)
theatlantic.com
Kash Patel's Personalized Bourbon Stash
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/05/kash-patel-fbi-bourbon/687066/
28 comments
That country is such a clown show.
Paywall’d
> he believes that many agents would worry that if the director offers you a bottle, and “you aren’t on board on receiving it enthusiastically, you are getting polygraphed for loyalty.”
You work at a place that can polygraph you for loyalty? And you're defending anything about this?
You work at a place that can polygraph you for loyalty? And you're defending anything about this?
A. it shows you what deep thinkers the whole place is regardless of the person in charge right now (who is incredibly odious)
B. Of course _you_ would say that.
B. Of course _you_ would say that.
Can someone explain Patel's defamation lawsuit? I have no reason to doubt the Atlantic story about his drinking. If he sues and publicly loses, that is significantly more humiliating than quietly letting the story be forgotten.
Suing is highly publicized thing, the "he dropped the lawsuit" or "lawsuit was dismissed" will be Friday news dump not covered by anything or anyone (especially now when one party control most if not all media - including "social" media)
Exactly right. The right wing media will be all over the lawsuit and the X crowd will take the opportunity to dunk on the "liebral media" and how this proves that journalists can't be trusted because they make stuff up like Kash Patel's drinking.
They will be silent months later when the lawsuit is quietly dropped. The only thing the readers will remember is how the evil liberals got what was coming to them. These are the people who still think the Muller report "totally exonerated" the Trump administration.
They will be silent months later when the lawsuit is quietly dropped. The only thing the readers will remember is how the evil liberals got what was coming to them. These are the people who still think the Muller report "totally exonerated" the Trump administration.
> The right wing media will be all over the lawsuit and the X crowd will take the opportunity to dunk on the "liebral media" and how this proves that journalists can't be trusted because they make stuff up like Kash Patel's drinking.
After The Atlantic published their story on the military group chats and were attacked by the Administration their subscription numbers purportedly went up:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_group...
“There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” — Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
After The Atlantic published their story on the military group chats and were attacked by the Administration their subscription numbers purportedly went up:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_group...
“There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” — Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Comparing a drunk FBI Director frivolous lawsuit to military group chat leak is all sorts of crazy. No one's subscription numbers are going up for reporting about should-be-in-AA-meetings-and-not-running-FBI DEI hire (or even worse the eventual drop/dismissal of this case).
> No one's subscription numbers are going up for reporting about should-be-in-AA-meetings-and-not-running-FBI DEI hire (or even worse the eventual drop/dismissal of this case).
The potential going-up may not be for the reporting of particular stories, but perhaps from the Streisand effect of bringing attention to organizations that are not cow-towing to the Administration: people may want to support those types of organizations.
The potential going-up may not be for the reporting of particular stories, but perhaps from the Streisand effect of bringing attention to organizations that are not cow-towing to the Administration: people may want to support those types of organizations.
You misspelled DUI hire.
He, just like about every single person working in this Administration, is a textbook definition of DEI hire (someone holding a job many other people are more qualified for :) ).
He doesn't fit that definition of a DEI hire, it's just that the qualifications for the job aren't the traditional ones like knowledge of the law. He is extremely qualified in the area of loyalty and deference to Trump, the most important qualification in this administration.
exactly, that is DEI hard at work. he ran a campaign and his supporters were all like "DEI bad" while Zuck was getting rainbow flags tattooed on his forehead and then we ended up with the DEI-iest of DEI Presidents ever. and it is not just kash, it is all of them, through and through. too funny
Intimidation.
The calculus still fails for me. If this was a podunk Youtuber, sure, intimidate away. The Atlantic has been in the press business for a long time, and is not going to publish a piece against a vindictive administration without being confident in the reporting. They are prepared to defend themselves against a baseless suit.
Well the Government has effectively infinite resources, versus some media outlet.
You also forget that the point is to signal to the base/allies that you are fighting. The fact that the lawsuit didn't immediately get tossed out is a signal that your claims might have merit (even though thats not really how it works)
You also forget that the point is to signal to the base/allies that you are fighting. The fact that the lawsuit didn't immediately get tossed out is a signal that your claims might have merit (even though thats not really how it works)
> Well the Government has effectively infinite resources, versus some media outlet.
The Atlantic is (co-?)owned by Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerson_Collective
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic#Ownership_and_edi...
I would guess they have some resources too.
> The fact that the lawsuit didn't immediately get tossed out is a signal that your claims might have merit (even though thats not really how it works)
The Atlantic may have not filed a motion to dismiss so they could go to discovery to dig up more info on how the FBI is being run.
The Atlantic is (co-?)owned by Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerson_Collective
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic#Ownership_and_edi...
I would guess they have some resources too.
> The fact that the lawsuit didn't immediately get tossed out is a signal that your claims might have merit (even though thats not really how it works)
The Atlantic may have not filed a motion to dismiss so they could go to discovery to dig up more info on how the FBI is being run.
Kayfabe for the base and the ignorant middle.
Context:
The FBI Director Is MIA - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47813001 (18 days ago)
F.B.I. Director Sues The Atlantic Over Article Claiming Excessive Drinking - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/us/politics/kash-patel-at... (15 days ago)
FBI investigating leaks to journalist who wrote explosive article on Kash Patel - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48037332 (8 hours ago)
The FBI Director Is MIA - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47813001 (18 days ago)
F.B.I. Director Sues The Atlantic Over Article Claiming Excessive Drinking - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/us/politics/kash-patel-at... (15 days ago)
FBI investigating leaks to journalist who wrote explosive article on Kash Patel - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48037332 (8 hours ago)
There's nothing wrong with Woodford but... idk if I was going to have a bottle engraved with my name maybe find something more interesting? Strange behavior though...
Guy is a fucking joke
Isn't this just a strange form of Challenge Coin[0]? I always found those odd and this seems odd in the same vein as opposed to a new kind of odd. It being alcohol is perhaps mildly interesting.
0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenge_coin
0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenge_coin
Oh he has those too. According to the article, his are comically oversized, even for the genre. Because of course they are. The poor dude just screams I WANT TO BELONG in a way the other children find repellent. Other than bullies who know the value of a useful fool. Weird.
I love that Sarah Fitzpatrick has absolutely doubled down on this, gets sued, drops another article, "come at me bro"
None of Patel's actions cited in this article are a crime, but I'll bet this article of hers could become useful in Patel's defamation suit.
> None of Patel's actions cited in this article are a crime, but I'll bet this article of hers could become useful in Patel's defamation suit.
It may not be a crime to be at your job own job too, anonymousiam, but if you regularly showed up for work drunk and other people had to pick up the slack, I would hazard to guess you would be fired.
But when you're the Director of the FBI, the two ways to be fired are (a) by the President, or (b) by Congress. Very (politically) difficult to do.
Is the US taxpayer entitled to know if their taxes are being used to pay the salary for someone who regularly goes on alcoholic benders?
It may not be a crime to be at your job own job too, anonymousiam, but if you regularly showed up for work drunk and other people had to pick up the slack, I would hazard to guess you would be fired.
But when you're the Director of the FBI, the two ways to be fired are (a) by the President, or (b) by Congress. Very (politically) difficult to do.
Is the US taxpayer entitled to know if their taxes are being used to pay the salary for someone who regularly goes on alcoholic benders?
I think Tim Dillon said it best when he stated: “Kash Patel was hired to explicitly NOT run the FBI”