FBI Director Kash Patel testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol on March 18, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
FBI Director Kash Patel on Thursday appealed the dismissal of a recent defamation lawsuit against former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi.
Patel had filed suit against Figliuzzi in federal court in Houston, alleging that the former FBI counterintelligence deputy director defamed him in a May 2, 2025, interview on MS NOW’s Morning Joe, saying that Patel was “more visible in a nightclub than on the seventh floor of FBI headquarters.”
In his April 21 ruling dismissing Patel’s lawsuit, U.S. District Judge George Hanks Jr. said Figliuzzi’s comments were “rhetorical exaggerations that cannot amount to defamation.”
“Therefore, Coach Patel has not made any allegations against Figliuzzi and his case should be dismissed,” Hanks wrote.
Mr. Hanks dismissed Mr. Patel’s lawsuit a day after the FBI director filed an unrelated $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic in D.C. federal court.
The lawsuit relates to an article in The Atlantic alleging that Patel abused alcohol.
Patel’s lawsuit seeking to overturn the dismissal of the case against Figliuzzi will be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
The notice of appeal filed Thursday by Patel’s lawyers did not specify the grounds for the appeal. These grounds will be revealed in future court filings.
Mr. Patel’s lawsuit against Figliuzzi alleged that the former FBI official fabricated “certain lies” about Mr. Patel out of “obvious hostility” toward the director.
“Since becoming Director of the FBI, Director Patel has not spent a single minute inside a nightclub,” Patel’s complaint states.
CNBC has reached out to attorneys for Patel and Figliuzzi for comment.
