New report exposes Kash Patel's drinking and freak-outs

Top Stories for April 18:

Kash Patel threatens to sue over bombshell report detailing claims of excessive drinking and other concerning conduct
FBI Director Kash Patel has threatened to sue over bombshell claims reported in a magazine profile that the Trump administration official is deeply paranoid about being fired and often drinks to excess, alarming officials at the law enforcement agency and beyond. The alleged conduct, which Patel has called “false reporting,” has left officials alarmed about what would happen if the FBI was needed in a national crisis such as a terror attack. “That’s what keeps me up at night,” one unnamed official told The Atlantic, which published the claims Friday evening. The piece details a host of concerning incidents and allegations. On April 10, according to the magazine, the director flew into a paranoid “freak-out” when faced with a technical issue with a computer system. The report claims Patel thought it was a sign he was being fired and he began calling aides and allies in a panic.

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Iran closes strait of Hormuz again ‘until US lifts blockade’
Iranian officials say they have reversed the reopening of the strait of Hormuz and reimposed restrictions on the vital shipping lane after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iranian ports. A UK maritime agency reported that Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) ships had fired at a tanker as it attempted to pass through the strait on Saturday. Reuters reported that an Indian-flagged vessel carrying crude oil had also been attacked while in the waterway. Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya joint military command said on Saturday that Tehran had restored the strait to its “previous status” and was now “under strict management and control by the armed forces”. Iran said the restrictions would remain if Washington did not “ensure full freedom of navigation for vessels travelling from Iran to destinations and from destinations to Iran”.

Take Action: Stop Trump’s warrantless surveillance of the American people!

Union ironworker takes on Big Lie-pushing MAGA radical in battle for critical House seat
Brian Poindexter for Congress: Brian Poindexter is a union worker and city councilman who has worked hard his entire life in machine shops, on construction sites, driving trucks, and serving his neighbors. He’s the perfect candidate to win over the working-class voters of Ohio’s 7th district, which is currently represented by a Republican who has spent his two terms in office towing the MAGA party line — and racking up a slew of nasty allegations, including domestic violence. Will you chip in to to help jump-start Brian’s campaign and help Democrats pick up this vital and winnable House seat?

Iran negotiator or private investor? Raskin launches investigation into Jared Kushner
House Judiciary Democrats are launching a new investigation into President Donald Trump’s son-in-law — and Iran ceasefire negotiator — Jared Kushner, citing his “glaring and incurable conflict of interest.” In a letter obtained first by MS NOW, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., writes that Kushner’s dual roles as Trump administration peace envoy and leader of a private equity firm have “been haunting American foreign policy since President Trump returned to Washington in 2025,” with the Iran war only compounding concerns that Kushner’s financial work could distort his priorities. “Your client Saudi Arabia,” Raskin writes, “wants to see a continuation and escalation of President Trump’s Iran war, but the American people have an interest in minimizing the loss of American lives and treasure in this conflict.” “To whom do your professional obligations and fiduciary duties belong?” Raskin asks in the letter, which was sent to Kushner, his firm, and the State Department on Thursday.

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Armed off-duty cop tried to incite violence at ICE protest at school
A police official in Arizona has been placed on administrative leave after showing up armed to a student-led protest and provoking an altercation that led to the arrest of a teenage girl. The officer told fellow police who arrived on the scene that he attended the students’ immigration rights protest with the intent of acting as an agent provocateur, according to a news report. Dusten Mullen, a sergeant with the Phoenix Police Department, has been suspended with pay pending an internal review of his conduct at a protest at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona, on January 30, according to Phoenix Police Chief Matthew Giordano. “My plan is legitimately to just let them all assault me and you guys arrest them all and I’ll keep it on film,” Mullen said, according to a police report obtained by the local TV news site. “I also have other people filming from a distance.”

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Deaths of migrants in ICE custody hit record high under Trump
The number of immigrants who have died while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody has reached an all-time high this fiscal year. Twenty-nine people have died in ICE custody since October, the start of the federal government’s fiscal year, already surpassing 2004’s toll of 28, the previous record, according to government data. The most recent death was of 27-year-old Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt, a Cuban man held in ICE custody in Miami, Florida. According to an initial report released by ICE on the evening of April 16, Carbonell-Betancourt was found unresponsive in his cell on the morning of April 12. The report lists the cause of death as a “presumed suicide,” but the official cause remains under investigation.