Washington DC - During a disastrous press conference on Tuesday, FBI Director Kash Patel contradicted claims that he made in a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic.

In the lawsuit, which was lodged on Monday and seeks $250 million in damages, Patel denied that an IT error had ever triggered a "freak out" or made him think that he was being fired.

He did, however, admit that he'd encountered "a routine technical problem logging into a government system, which was quickly fixed."

When asked to explain what happened with the computer lockout by NBC News Correspondent Ryan Reilly on Tuesday, however, Patel seemed to reject the idea that any such IT issue ever took place.

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"Let's have a survey. How many of you people believe that's true?" Patel asked, before promptly exploding at Reilly when pressed on the issue.

"The problem with you and your baseless reporting is that is an absolute lie," he raged, avoiding the question. "It was never said, it never happened, and I will serve in this administration as long as the president and attorney general want me to do so."

He continued to rant, complaining that the press were spreading lies about him and asking off-topic questions.

"I was never locked out of my systems," Patel insisted. "Anyone that says the opposite is lying."

The Atlantic article made a range of accusations against Patel, claiming that he had been intoxicated on the job and often absent during his time in the role.

"I can say unequivocally that I never listen to the fake news mafia," Patel said angrily when pressed about the accusations.

"This FBI director has been on the job twice as many days as every director before me."