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Kash Patel Appeals Federal Judge’s Dismissal of Defamation Suit Against Ex-FBI Official Frank Figliuzzi
Patel filed notice Thursday with the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after a Houston federal judge ruled that Figliuzzi's 2025 MSNBC comments were rhetorical hyperbole. The suit centered on claims that Patel frequented nightclubs rather than FBI headquarters. The dismissal came one day after Patel filed a separate $250 million defamation case against The Atlantic.
May 14, 3:28 PM·1m read1 source
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FBI Director Kash Patel filed an appeal Thursday of a federal judge's dismissal of his defamation lawsuit against former FBI counterintelligence assistant director Frank Figliuzzi. The notice of appeal, filed by Patel's attorney, did not identify the grounds for the appeal. Those grounds will be laid out in a future court filing.
U.S. District Court Judge George Hanks Jr. issued a decision on April 21 dismissing Patel's lawsuit. " "Accordingly, Dir. Patel has failed to state a claim against Figliuzzi, and his lawsuit must be dismissed," Hanks wrote.
Patel had sued Figliuzzi in Houston federal court. Patel's suit against Figliuzzi said the former FBI official fabricated "a specific lie" about Patel because of his "clear animus" toward the director. "Since becoming Director of the FBI, Director Patel has not spent a single minute inside of a nightclub," Patel's suit stated.
Frank Figliuzzi said in a May 2, 2025 interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that Patel had "been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of" FBI headquarters. C. U.S.
Court of Appeals. CNBC has requested comment from attorneys for Patel and Figliuzzi.
Federal court against The Atlantic magazine. D.C. The Atlantic magazine published an article that alleged Patel has abused alcohol.
D.C. on March 18, 2026. The testimony came more than a year after the May 2025 interview that prompted the original Houston lawsuit and weeks after the April 2026 dismissal ruling.
