A federal judge dismissed FBI Director Kash Patel’s defamation lawsuit against former FBI official and MSNBC analyst Frank Figliuzzi on Tuesday — one day after Patel filed a separate $250 million defamation suit against The Atlantic over its reporting on his drinking.
US District Judge George C. Hanks Jr. of the Southern District of Texas ruled that Figliuzzi’s comment — that Patel had “been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building” — was rhetorical hyperbole that cannot constitute defamation.
“A person of reasonable intelligence and learning would not have taken his statement literally,” Hanks wrote. “By saying that Patel spent ‘far more’ time at nightclubs than his office, Figliuzzi delivered his answer in an exaggerated, provocative and amusing way.”
Figliuzzi made the remark on May 2, 2025, on Morning Joe, responding to a question about Patel’s low visibility as FBI director. Patel sued in June, accusing Figliuzzi of fabricating “a specific lie” driven by “clear animus.”
MSNBC had previously walked back the comment, with co-host Jonathan Lemire stating on air: “This was a misstatement. We have not verified that claim.”
While dismissing the defamation claim, Judge Hanks denied Figliuzzi’s request for attorney fees and costs under Texas’s anti-SLAPP law, which is designed to protect First Amendment rights by penalizing meritless suits brought to silence critics.
Figliuzzi’s lawyer Marc Fuller called the outcome “a victory for press freedom and the First Amendment.” Figliuzzi posted on Substack: “A federal judge has dismissed the defamation suit filed against me by Kash Patel. This is a win for the first amendment and for a free press.”
Patel filed the Atlantic suit Monday — the day before the Figliuzzi dismissal — and held a press conference Tuesday where he contradicted statements in his own Atlantic complaint.
When asked about footage of him drinking a beer with the US men’s hockey team after their Olympic gold medal win, Patel said, “I’m like an everyday American who loves his country, loves the sport of hockey, and champions my friends when they raise a gold medal and invite me in to celebrate.”
The DOJ’s ethics handbook prohibits employees from “habitually using alcohol or other intoxicants to excess,” and its inspector general has noted that drinking beyond the workplace can expose officials to coercion or exploitation by foreign adversaries.
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