CNN was unapologetic even after they were found liable for their malicious defamation of Navy veteran Zachary Young last year. And in reporting on FBI Director Kash Patel’s $250 million defamation suit against The Atlantic for their recent reporting about him, on Monday, CNN’s The Situation Room suggested was just him “performing” for President Trump and suggested he should have just ignored the possible defamation because more people have since read it. In giving a rundown of the suit, chief media analyst Brian Stelter rhetorically scoffed at any possibly the suit legitimacy. According to him, Patel was only “performing” for President Trump: Yeah this defamation lawsuit charges The Atlantic with actual malice and seeks $250 million in damages. Patel vowed to sue in the hours before this article came out on Friday. So, now this morning his lawyers are following up filing this lawsuit in DC. And really, you know, performing what Patel knows his boss, President Trump, wants to see; a very aggressive response to these charges in The Atlantic. Stelter noted that the lawsuit alleged “actual malice”: So the lawsuit goes through point-by-point and says that all these charges against Patel are false. And it says the lawsuit - the lawsuit charges that The Atlantic published these statements with “actual malice.” Those two words are the key in any defamation suit. Actual malice is the very high legal standard that public figures have to prove in order to win a defamation suit. They have to prove that The Atlantic knew these claims were false, or had a reckless disregard for the truth.   CNN's Brian Stelter dismisses Kash Patel's defamation suit against The Atlantic as just "performing" for Trump. He had no issue with the mag only giving Patel 2 hours to respond (CNN did the same when they maliciously defamed Navy vet Zackary Young). CNN ends by suggesting that… pic.twitter.com/tfI6PCRiba — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) April 20, 2026   CNN knew actual malice quite well since it was proven they acted with it against Young. The evidence presented to the jury was clear; former chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt had messaged colleagues that he was going to “nail this Zachary Young Mfucker” while saying the report was going to be “your funeral bucko.” Editors called him a “shit” and “a shitbag” who had a “punchable face.” Those CNN messages came out via discovery. So, discovery would be the phase where any actual malice against Patel maybe uncovered. If there’s any to be found. Stelter also didn’t have an issue with The Atlantic only giving Patel two hours to respond, and gave their defense for them, suggesting the sheer quantity of anonymous source made it an open-shut case: Now, Patel's lawyers are going to argue that The Atlantic didn't ask for comment until a couple hours before it published. But The Atlantic will probably say in response, ‘hey, we had two dozen sources all throughout the government who describe these concerns.’ He didn’t have a problem with it because CNN had a similar policy. They only gave Young two hours to respond too. Finally, at the end of the segment, Stelter and The Situation Room co-hosts Pamela Brown and Wolf Blitzer suggested Patel should have just ignored the allegedly defamatory report because suing them caused more people to read it: STELTER: It's still up on the homepage as the Atlantic dot com, and it's one of the most read articles on the website and has been ever since it came out on Friday evening. Wolf, Pamela. BROWN: Now it’s getting even more attention with this lawsuit. BLITZER: Yeah, for sure. STELTER: That’s right. Essentially, their attitude was ‘just let us in the media say what ever we want regardless of the facts.’ It seems as though CNN didn’t learn their lesson. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: CNN’s The Situation Room April 20, 2026 11:25:58 a.m. Eastern WOLF BLITZER: New this morning, the FBI director, Kash Patel, is suing The Atlantic magazine for $250 million over an explosive story that alleges his colleagues are concerned about heavy drinking and unexplained absences. PAMELA BROWN: CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter is here in The Situation Room. So, what do we know about this lawsuit. Brian. BRIAN STELTER: Yeah this defamation lawsuit charges The Atlantic with actual malice and seeks $250 million in damages. Patel vowed to sue in the hours before this article came out on Friday. So, now this morning his lawyers are following up filing this lawsuit in DC. And really, you know, performing what Patel knows his boss, President Trump, wants to see; a very aggressive response to these charges in The Atlantic. Now, the lawsuit says that sentences like this one from reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick are false. Here's what Fitzpatrick wrote. She said, “Several officials told me that Patel's drinking has been a recurring source of concern across the government. They said that he is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication.” The lawsuit says that the Fitzpatrick article falsely asserts many things about Patel, including that, quote “he is a habitual drunk, unable to perform the duties of his office, is a threat to public safety, is vulnerable to foreign coercion, has violated DOJ ethics rules. Et cetera. Et cetera.” So the lawsuit goes through point-by-point and says that all these charges against Patel are false. And it says the lawsuit - the lawsuit charges that The Atlantic published these statements with “actual malice.” Those two words are the key in any defamation suit. Actual malice is the very high legal standard that public figures have to prove in order to win a defamation suit. They have to prove that The Atlantic knew these claims were false, or had a reckless disregard for the truth. Now, Patel's lawyers are going to argue that The Atlantic didn't ask for comment until a couple hours before it published. But The Atlantic will probably say in response, ‘hey, we had two dozen sources all throughout the government who describe these concerns.’ Here's the statement from The Atlantic just a few moments ago, saying, quote, “We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit.” CNN has not independently corroborated the anecdotes that are in that Atlantic article, but the title is pretty stark. It says the FBI director is M.I.A. It's still up on the homepage as the Atlantic dot com, and it's one of the most read articles on the website and has been ever since it came out on Friday evening. Wolf, Pamela. BROWN: Now it’s getting even more attention with this lawsuit. BLITZER: Yeah, for sure. STELTER: That’s right. BROWN: Brian Stelter, thank you so much.