Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 - Kash Patel Sues The Atlantic, Iran Ceasefire Nears Collapse, The Onion Buys Infowars

Today's Headlines: Kash Patel responded to bombshell reporting about his drinking and incompetence by filing a $250 million defamation suit against The Atlantic — can’t wait for discovery then, Kash. Meanwhile, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer became the third Trump Cabinet member to resign in just a few months, notable mostly because all three have been women while the actual disasters remain firmly in place. On the foreign policy beat, the Iran ceasefire expires tomorrow at 8pm with Trump calling renewal "highly unlikely," JD Vance and crew headed to Islamabad anyway, and oil prices already on the rise. Back home, the House Ethics Committee is mulling expulsion votes for two Florida representatives — one facing sexual misconduct and illegal contract charges, the other caught steering COVID relief funds to her own campaign. In economic news, the Trump administration quietly launched a portal for the 330,000 businesses that overpaid on illegal tariffs to apply for refunds, with no apparent plan for the ones that already went under because of them. Over in Silicon Valley, Amazon invested another $5 billion into Anthropic while California simultaneously filed an antitrust suit against Amazon using the company's own emails as evidence, and Apple tapped 25-year veteran John Ternus as its next CEO, a man described as competent and affable, which feels like a low bar that is nonetheless refreshing. And finally, a bankruptcy judge is the only thing standing between The Onion and its dream of owning Infowars — which would be the most perfect ending to the Alex Jones saga anyone could have written. Resources/Articles mentioned in this episode: CNN: FBI director Kash Patel files $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic WaPo: Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will resign amid misconduct allegations The Hill: Ethics panel reveals it’s conducted 20 sexual misconduct investigations into lawmakers since 2017 Politico: House Ethics panel issues rare statement committing to helping secure a sexual harassment-free workplace - Live Updates Axios: House barrels toward rare double expulsion votes WaPo: Iran talks on shaky footing after U.S. seizure of ship in Strait of Hormuz AP News: Oil prices rise and US stocks give back a bit of their record-breaking rally Politico: Hungary must arrest Netanyahu if he visits, Magyar says Wired: The Weird, Twisting Tale of How China Spied on Alysa Liu and Her Dad Axios: What to know about tariff refund site that launches Monday Mashable: Amazon colluded to make competitors raise prices, California lawsuit says WSJ: Anthropic, Amazon Tighten Bond in $5 Billion Investment and Computing Deal WSJ: Tim Cook to Step Down as Apple Names New CEO Mother Jones: The Onion Says It Has Again Struck a Deal to Take Over Infowars Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices