Kash Patel’s Atlantic Lawsuit Is Already Biting Him in the Butt

The reporter who wrote the story says she has gotten a host of new sources ready to dish dirt on Patel.

It looks like Kash Patel’s major meltdown over The Atlantic’s humiliating report on his excessive drinking and unexplained absences has only made things worse for the embattled FBI director.

Last weekend, The Atlantic’s Sarah Fitzpatrick reported that Patel was known to drink in excess, routinely delayed meetings and time-sensitive operations, and was often unreachable, raising concerns about the potential for foreign coercion and other national security risks. His behavior had also grown increasingly erratic as he became worried he might lose his job.

In response, Patel filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit Monday alleging that the article was “replete with false and obviously fabricated allegations designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office.” Within a day of filing, he already managed to undermine his own lawsuit.

While speaking to Radio Atlantic Thursday, Fitzpatrick was asked about Patel’s lawsuit. “I stand by every single word of this report,” she said, noting that aside from Patel, the response to the article has been overwhelmingly supportive.

“And I think one of the things that has been most gratifying, after—immediately after the story published was, I have been inundated by additional sourcing going up to the highest levels of the government, thanking us for doing the work, providing additional corroborating information,” Fitzpatrick said.

The sources Fitzpatrick spoke with to produce the original report were “people who felt that not only was this conduct embarrassing, unbecoming, but that it was a national security vulnerability, and that Americans were perhaps less safe as a result,” she said.

Kristi Noem Lost Her Job—but She’s Not Giving Up the Home It Came With

The former homeland security secretary hasn’t left her house on a military base.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is still living in a waterfront home on a Washington, D.C., military base nearly two months after she was fired, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal.

Noem moved into the home—usually reserved for the Coast Guard commandant— after the previous commandant, Linda Fagan, was fired. It is not typical for Cabinet members or civilians to live in military housing. While other Trump Cabinet members have opted for military housing in his second term, allegedly due to threats they received, Noem is no longer a Cabinet member and should be living in civilian housing. Markwayne Mullin was confirmed as the new homeland security secretary on March 23, over a month ago, and Noem was ousted before that.

Admiral Kevin Lunday, the current Coast Guard commandant, has plans to move into the home Noem is occupying very soon, according to sources close to the situation.

Corey Lewandowski, Noem’s former aide and alleged affair partner, has been spotted at the home multiple times, even as recently as this month. Neither Noem nor DHS has commented.

DOJ Ends Investigation Into Fed Chair Powell After Republican Backlash

The Justice Department is finally dropping its criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

President Donald Trump is backing down from his vendetta against Jerome Powell.

The Justice Department announced Friday that it is dropping its criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve chief over the renovation of the central bank’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.

“This morning the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve has been asked to scrutinize the building costs overruns—in the billions of dollars—that have been borne by taxpayers,” U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro posted on X. “Accordingly, I have directed my office to close our investigation as the IG undertakes this inquiry.”

“I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so,” Pirro added, appearing to suggest that there was not a factual basis for the previous investigation.

Powell’s term expires on May 15, and Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to fill the position has faced roadblocks, with Republican Senator Thom Tillis threatening to hold up Warsh’s confirmation over the trumped-up investigation of Powell. Tillis’s vote against Warsh would have been enough to sink his nomination.

Trump has threatened to fire Powell for months, citing the made-up headquarters scandal and complaining about interest rates not being lowered enough. Earlier this month, Trump said he would fire Powell if he stayed past his term, even though Powell is legally allowed to remain as chair “pro tempore” until Congress confirms his replacement.

At his Senate confirmation hearings earlier this week, Warsh dodged questions about his financial ties to Jeffrey Epstein and whether Trump had discussed lowering interest rates with him. While a significant roadblock to his confirmation has just been lifted, those questions could still deter his appointment.

This story has been updated.

DeSantis Schemes to Sidestep Florida Constitution to Help Trump

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis plans to ignore Florida law in order to help Republicans win the redistricting wars.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is hoping to get around Florida’s Constitution in order to redraw the state’s congressional map and give Republicans nationally a big advantage.

The Florida Constitution bans legislators from drawing districts with “the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent.” DeSantis, who has called a special session of the state legislature to vote on the new maps on Tuesday, plans to get around that provision in three ways, Axios reports.

First, DeSantis’s........

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