This week Ken and Josh discuss several big defamation suits.

The Atlantic has reported that Kash Patel is often drunk and derelict in his duties as FBI Director. But Patel says he’s only guilty of working really hard, and he’s suing the Atlantic. He’s got a theory he says is a “slam dunk” — The Atlantic defamed him with actual malice because he denied the accusations against him but they printed him anyway. That theory didn’t work for Trump against The Wall Street Journal and it didn’t work for Patel against Frank Figliuzzi Jr., who accused him of being a nightclub rat on Morning Joe, but maybe it will work this time? (It won’t).

Also, his lawyer did something incompetent — shocker.

And more formidably, former Capitol Police officer Shauni Kerkhoff is suing The Blaze and two of its “journalists” for accusing her of being the Capitol Hill pipe bomber, on the basis of a shoddy “gait analysis” alleging that her limp matched the way the bomber walked on surveillance video. Proving actual malice is hard — as a police officer, Kerkhoff is treated as a public figure in the coverage of her work — but the journalists’ persistence with their accusations even after Brian Cole was arrested for the bombings strengthens her case. She also has very real defamation lawyers: Clare Locke, the firm that got the huge settlement out of Fox for Dominion Voting Systems.

That defamation coverage is for all listeners this week. In the full premium episode, there’s also:

* Even more defamation coverage, with Laura Loomer losing at summary judgment in her lawsuit against Bill Maher, and Megan Thee Stallion failing to obtain a court order instructing Milagro Cooper to stop talking about her.

* A preliminary injunction telling Apple and Facebook to restore anti-ICE resources they took off the internet at the government’s behest.

* The SPLC indictment.

* A settlement for Carter Page.

* A Sam Bankman-Fried update.

* And a court ruling that says it’s legal to be a huge dick in Alabama.

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This week Ken and Josh discuss Eric Swallwell and how prosecutors in Manhattan and Los Angeles are looking into sexual assault allegations against the now-former congressman. Meanwhile, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro — who oversees local felony prosecutions in the District of Columbia — has set up a hotline for victims who may have been assaulted by Swalwell there.

Besides looking into Swalwell, Pirro sent a couple of her henchpersons to the under-construction Federal Reserve headquarters looking for … something. An “I personally ordered the cost overruns” note from Jay Powell? We’re not sure, and probably neither were they — going to the crime scene is not something AUSAs do, as Ken notes from his own rueful experience of being denied an all-expenses paid trip to the Inland Empire, and the stunt seems only to have strengthened the resolve of Sen. Thom Tillis to block any confirmations of Trump Fed nominees.

That’s on this week’s show plus, for paying subscribers:

* Trump moves to vacate convictions of Oath Keeper and Proud Boy January 6 defendants whose convictions he’d previously chosen not to pardon;

* A panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals again frustrates James Boasberg’s investigation into non-compliance with his orders about deportations;

* Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal is dismissed for failure to plead actual malice;

* The Pentagon continues to try to avoid complying with an order to reinstate reporters’ access;

* Bill Essayli loses yet another case against immigration protesters; and

* A lesson on aesthetic standing (and how not to use AI!) from the Tiger King.

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This week Ken and Josh discuss updates on three of their favorite characters: Michael Avenatti, Pam Bondi, and Ed Martin.

That's for all subscribers. Paying subscribers will also hear their conversations about:

* Trump’s emergency motion to lift the stay on construction of the “desperately needed” White House ballroom, and a discussion of why the plaintiffs’ claims to standing are stronger than we gave them credit for last week.

* A Clavicular-alligator update.

* If you’re going to talk about how you want to do terrorism, don’t do it in front of your dash cam.

* Long-suffering federal judge Lewis Liman’s 152-page order dismissing most, but not all, of Blake Lively’s claims against the producers of It Ends With Us (and their publicists), and Ken’s discussion of why you shouldn’t sexually harass your independent contractors, even if it might technically not be illegal.

* Elon Musk’s antitrust loss.

Upgrade your subscription to receive all of our episodes at serioustrouble.show.