FBI Director Sues Atlantic, SPLC Indicted

0:00It's April 21st. Welcome to Tampa Bay News today, powered by AI. Attorney General Todd Blanche dropped a bombshell this week, inditing the Southern Poverty Law Center on federal fraud charges like wire fraud, bank, fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The Civil Rights Group says the case ties back to their old practice of paying confidential informants for tips on violent extremists, though details, are still coming out. Meanwhile, FBI Director Cash Patel fired back at the Atlantic with a $250 million defamation lawsuit over an article accusing him of heavy drinking that messed up meetings and briefings. The piece relied on anonymous sources describing rescheduled sessions, trouble waking him, and wild nights at private clubs in Washington and Las Vegas. Patel slammed the story as a hit job, boasting he's always first in and last out, never intoxicated on duty, and daring other outlets to join them. Fight in court as these legal clashes keep escalating.