FBI opens criminal leak probe targeting the sources behind The Atlantic's reporting on Kash Patel

In early May 2026, MS NOW reported that the FBI had opened a criminal "insider threat" investigation aimed at identifying the sources behind Atlantic reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick's account of FBI Director Kash Patel's heavy drinking and erratic conduct — reporting Fitzpatrick had built on roughly two dozen anonymous sources and published in mid-April 2026. PBS NewsHour, TheWrap, Poynter and Democracy Now corroborated the existence of the probe, which agents reportedly described as run out of an insider-threats unit.

What makes the inquiry notable is its target and its premise. It does not arise from any leak of classified material; it targets the disclosure of unclassified information to a journalist, a context in which reporters have traditionally been treated as witnesses rather than as subjects of a criminal newsgathering investigation. According to the reporting, some FBI personnel assigned to the matter objected that the bureau was not supposed to pursue this kind of case, while fearing for their jobs if they refused. An FBI spokesperson denied that any such investigation exists.

The action is a distinct escalation from FBI Director Patel's earlier $250 million defamation suit against The Atlantic over the same reporting (archived separately). Where the April action invoked civil litigation, this turns the bureau's criminal apparatus toward a journalist's sources, and it fits a documented pattern of leak probes and subpoenas directed at reporters — including the earlier FBI inquiry into a New York Times reporter and DOJ grand-jury subpoenas for Wall Street Journal reporters. The bureau's denial is noted; the underlying reporting is sourced to multiple outlets, including agents internal to the FBI.