FBI Director Kash Patel sued The Atlantic on Monday for $250 million, claiming an article about his alleged excessive drinking was false and a “malicious and defamatory hit piece.”

The Atlantic, in response, said it stood by its reporting and would vigorously defend against the “meritless lawsuit.”

In the article, posted on the magazine’s website Friday, staff writer Sarah Fitzpatrick wrote that Patel is deeply concerned about losing his job and that “he has good reasons to think so — including some having to do with what witnesses described to me as bouts of excessive drinking.”

The article alleged that Patel frequently visits the Poodle Room, a members-only club at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, and the private club Ned’s in Washington, D.C., and that his late nights have forced staff to push back early morning meetings while he recovers.

His behavior, including “both conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences,” has alarmed officials at the FBI and Department of Justice, The Atlantic said.

Fitzpatrick was named as a co-defendant in the lawsuit.

Patel, in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, denied the allegations and criticized the magazine for relying on anonymous sources. Fitzpatrick wrote that she interviewed more than two dozen people and granted them anonymity to “discuss sensitive information and private conversations.”

“Defendants cannot evade responsibility for their malicious lies by hiding behind sham sources,” the lawsuit said.

Patel’s behavior has become a public safety threat and FBI staffers worry what would happen in the event of a domestic terrorist attack, the magazine reported.

“Memo to the fake news — the only time I’ll ever actually be concerned about the hit piece lies you write about me will be when you stop,” Patel posted on X. “Keep talking, it means I’m doing exactly what I should be doing. And no amount of BS you write will ever deter this FBI from making America safe again and taking down the criminals you love.”

This is not the first time Patel’s conduct has drawn scrutiny.

He previously faced criticism for traveling to Milan on an FBI jet to watch the U.S. hockey team compete in the gold medal match at the Winter Olympics — criticism that intensified after he was photographed celebrating in the locker room, beer in hand. He was also criticized for using a government aircraft to attend a wrestling event where his girlfriend performed the national anthem.

Patel calls Las Vegas home and reportedly negotiated to live there part-time while running the FBI remotely, far from FBI headquarters in Washington.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.