Judge dismisses FBI Patel's defamation suit against a former FBI official, his 'nightclubs' comment

A Houston judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit by FBI Director Kash Patel that alleged a former top agency official defamed him by suggesting Patel spends more time in nightclubs than FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The former official, Frank Figliuzzi, who was assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, said last year on the MS Now show "Morning Joe" that Patel had “been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of” the headquarters.

In U.S. District Court Judge George Hanks Jr. decision Tuesday, he wrote that the court found Figliuzzi's statement was "rhetorical hyperbole that doesn't meet the standard for defamation. Accordingly, Dir. Patel has failed to state a claim against Figliuzzi, and his lawsuit must be dismissed.”

Hanks also denied Figliuzzi's request to be awarded court costs and attorneys' fees under Texas' anti-SLAPP law, which protects defendants in defamation cases from frivolous lawsuits aimed at silencing critics," according to CNBC.

Figluizzi's lawyer told CNBC that the lawsuit was "baseless" and its dismissal is a "victory for press freedom and the First Amendment."