A federal judge in Texas has tossed a defamation suit brought by FBI Director Kash Patel against former FBI assistant director-turned-MSNBC contributor Frank Figliuzzi.
Patel had sued Figliuzzi over comments he made on "Morning Joe" about the FBI director’s evening activities.
"Yeah, well, reportedly, he’s been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building," Figliuzzi said on the show last year.
Figliuzzi's lawyers argued that "this comment was a sarcastic, hyperbolic remark that receives protection from defamation liability."
U.S. District Judge George Hanks Jr. agreed, writing, “Figliuzzi’s statement, when taken in context, cannot have been perceived by a person of ordinary intelligence as stating actual facts about Patel.”
"A person of reasonable intelligence and learning would not have taken his statement literally: that Dir. Patel has actually spent more hours physically in a nightclub than he has spent physically in his office building," the judge added.
The judge said that since he believes the statement constitutes "rhetorical hyperbole," it cannot be defamation.
Marc Fuller, Figliuzzi's lawyer, hailed the decision as a "victory for press freedom and the First Amendment."
The judge, however, denied Figliuzzi's request for attorney fees and other costs.
MSNBC is now known as MS NOW, which continues to air “Morning Joe.” The cable channel rebranded amid a spinoff from Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.
The ruling came two days after Patel filed a separate defamation suit against The Atlantic magazine over a story it published last week that alleged he drinks to excess and has had unexplained absences at the bureau.
The lawsuit, which seeks $250 million from the magazine, alleges that the article is a "sweeping, malicious and defamatory hit piece."
The Atlantic defended the story by Sarah Fitzpatrick, who is a former senior investigative producer for NBC News.
"We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit," The Atlantic’s senior vice president of communications, Anna Bross, said.
