Kash Patel ‘jumped the gun’ with announcement of UFC plot arrests, sources say ^16.1%

MS NOW - By Carol Leonnig - 6/16/2026, 7:53 PM

Unattributed Quote 32.5% - Negativity Bias 25.8% - Fundamental Attribution Error 10.9%

Secret Service officials are angered that FBI Director Kash Patel prematurely announced on Tuesday the details of a largely sealed and ongoing criminal investigation into an alleged plot to attack Sunday’s White House UFC event with drones, according to three people familiar with the incident. Secret Service and FBI agents had been... more

Gov. Gavin Newsom says Justice Department is investigating him and his wife ^41.7%

MS NOW - By Carol Leonnig, Erum Salam - 6/15/2026, 9:12 PM

Burden of Proof 30.8% - Negativity Bias 24.3% - Ambiguity (Equivocation) 19.4%

A federal prosecutor’s office based in Sacramento is investigating California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wife for potential tax fraud and evasion, MS NOW has confirmed with two sources familiar with the probe. The probe stems back to early 2025, and is just one of several investigations that have encircled Newsom, his office and his family, the... more

FBI fires analysts behind controversial memo on ‘radical Catholic ideology’ ^35.1%

MS NOW - By Ken Dilanian, Carol Leonnig - 6/5/2026, 9:00 PM

Biased Writer Voice 32.4% - Unattributed Quote 31.8% - Framing Effect 31.2%

FBI Director Kash Patel fired a group of bureau intelligence analysts Friday over a rescinded 2023 memo about “radical traditionalist Catholic ideology” that has long been a focus of Republicans despite an investigation that found no anti-Catholic bias, three people familiar with the matter told MS NOW. The analysts worked in the FBI’s... more

FBI insiders: Kash Patel is ‘padding the stats’ to boost his record of arrests ^73.8%

MS NOW - By Carol Leonnig, Ken Dilanian - 5/13/2026, 6:58 PM

Appeal to Authority 34.4% - Negativity Bias 33.9% - Unattributed Quote 28.3%

FBI Director Kash Patel sidestepped months of unflattering insider accounts of his leadership in a hearing on Tuesday. Instead, he boasted of the bureau almost doubling its number of arrests under his tenure, and of capturing the world’s “Ten Most Wanted” villains at a record clip. He sounded a familiar refrain as he seeks to protect his... more

A bulletproof vest, ballistic glass and a president who carries on ^38%

MS NOW - By Jake Traylor, Carol Leonnig - 5/1/2026, 9:00 AM

Unattributed Quote 29.1% - Status Quo Bias 5% - In-Group Bias 4.1%

Ballistic glass. A bulletproof vest. Reimagined indoor events. In the week since a gunman attempted to breach the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, President Donald Trump’s administration has been quietly rethinking how to protect a president who refuses to slow down. On Monday, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles convened a meeting... more

Three problems with correspondents' dinner security, say officials: the checkpoint, the evacuation and the venue itself ^89.7%

MS NOW - By Carol Leonnig - 4/27/2026, 12:12 AM

Negativity Bias 31.2% - Appeal to Authority 28.5% - Availability Heuristic 19.1%

An armed teacher’s ability to get within a few dozen yards of a D.C. hotel ballroom where President Donald Trump and top aides had gathered Saturday night has exposed worrisome vulnerabilities in the Secret Service’s protection bubble around the president, current and former law enforcement officials told MS NOW. Trump and Secret Service... more

DOJ investigating Biden-era prosecutions of anti-abortion protesters, draft report shows ^0%

MS NOW - By Carol Leonnig, Julianne McShane - 4/8/2026, 8:51 PM

Negativity Bias 31.6% - Appeal to Authority 28.6% - Unattributed Quote 26.9%

The Trump Justice Department is expected to release a report as early as next week concluding that the prior administration politically targeted abortion opponents because of their religious beliefs when prosecuting them for blocking access to abortion clinics, according to three people familiar with the report and a draft reviewed by MS... more

Trump is considering replacing Pam Bondi, according to source ^0%

MS NOW - By Carol Leonnig, Ken Dilanian, Mychael Schnell - 4/2/2026, 12:40 PM

Negativity Bias 46.1% - Fundamental Attribution Error 17.4% - Halo Effect 14.3%

President Donald Trump is eyeing replacing Pam Bondi as attorney general, according to a person familiar with White House discussions. Trump has been frustrated with Bondi’s inability to successfully prosecute several individuals who Trump argues should face criminal charges, and whom he considers political enemies. The source requested... more

Special counsel Jack Smith suspected Trump kept docs for financial gain — but sources point to another motive ^0%

MS NOW - By Carol Leonnig - 3/27/2026, 4:09 PM

Negativity Bias 27.4% - Anecdotal 19.7% - Ad Hominem 9.1%

Special counsel Jack Smith strongly suspected that President Donald Trump took some classified records after he left office in 2021 because they could help him financially, but Smith and his team later concluded they could not prove this was his motive, MS NOW has learned. Early in his tenure, Smith was “laser-focused” on establishing... more

Pipe bomb suspect confesses and has expressed support for Trump, sources say ^0%

MS NOW - By Ken Dilanian, Carol Leonnig, Sydney Carruth - 12/5/2025, 4:14 PM

The man charged with planting pipe bombs outside Republican and Democratic national party headquarters before the Jan. 6 Capitol riots told the FBI he supported Donald Trump and believed Trump won the 2020 election, according to two people familiar with his interview. Brian Cole Jr., 30, who was arrested Thursday at his family home in a... more