A federal judge has tossed a case brought by FBI Director Kash Patel against anti-disinformation blogger Jim Stewartson.
According to a post on X by Stewartson, a Nevada federal judge granted his motion to dismiss the case. Patel sued Stewartson for libel in June 2023 over posts calling him a "Kremlin asset" who planned the January 6 riots. Stewartson said the judge wrote, "I do not have personal jurisdiction over Stewartson, so I grant his motion to dismiss."
Patel was suing Stewartson, who publishes the MindWar Substack, for over $10 million a couple of years before he was made Trump's FBI director. Stewartson initially didn't respond to the lawsuit, which led to Patel winning a $250,000 default judgment in August 2025, per reporting by CNBC.
Stewartson later moved to set aside that judgment and dismiss the case, arguing he was never properly served and had no meaningful ties to Nevada.
In April, Chief Judge Andrew Gordon denied those motions in part but ordered both sides to brief whether the court had personal jurisdiction over the California-based writer, according to reporting by Reason.
Stewartson celebrated his win on X, writing, "I'd like to commend the judge for including 'googly-eyed Kremlin b—' in his ruling," referring to a footnote that cites one of Stewartson's posts. He also responded to a Patel post by writing, "You were also going after bloggers. But you can't even do that right," and "we're not done here."
The dismissal marks the latest setback for Patel, who has filed at least six defamation suits against media outlets and commentators. A Texas judge threw out his case against former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi in April, calling the remarks by Figliuzzi protected hyperbole.