MSNBC spent years running anonymous source stories that turned out to be lies.
Now they rebranded as MS Now – and apparently brought the playbook with them.
A federal judge in Nashville is about to find out exactly what Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian actually knew before they published this one.
The Story Had No Security Detail and No Drunk Friend Because Neither Existed
The December 5, 2025, MS Now article was titled "Kash Patel ordered FBI detail to give girlfriend's pal a lift home: sources."
Three anonymous sources told Leonnig and Dilanian that Patel – on multiple occasions – ordered agents from his girlfriend's security detail to drive her intoxicated friend home after nights of partying in Nashville.
There was one problem with this story.
Alexis Wilkins didn't have a security detail at the time.
https://twitter.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/2061547761346949554?s=20
The suit states the detail didn't even exist during the spring 2025 timeframe the article described.
MS Now had actually reported on the death threats that eventually led to Wilkins receiving protection – in a November 17, 2025 piece – months before the alleged incidents supposedly occurred.
And the FBI's own spokesperson called the story out the moment it was published.
Assistant Director Ben Williamson told reporters it was "made up" – and when he pressed Dilanian and Leonnig for basic details like the date or the name of the friend allegedly involved, the reporters admitted they "d[id] not have that info."
They published it anyway.
These Reporters Knew She Doesn't Drink and Published the Opposite
The lawsuit zeros in on something that goes beyond getting facts wrong.
Wilkins' attorneys argue that Leonnig and Dilanian knew she doesn't drink alcohol – and constructed the story to imply the opposite anyway.
"They falsely portrayed Ms. Wilkins as being intoxicated even knowing that she does not drink," the complaint reads.
Wilkins is a country music singer whose professional identity, as the lawsuit puts it, is that of "a responsible, sober young woman who does not partake in the excess drinking culture and party scene that is typical for musicians."
https://twitter.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/2061593910250471537?s=20
A reader who knew none of that background and picked up the MS Now story would reasonably walk away believing she'd been drunk and demanding federal agents drive her friends home.
None of it happened.
The complaint charges that the defendants "knowingly, intentionally, willfully, wantonly, and maliciously" published the story with intent to harm Wilkins because of her relationship with Patel and her support of President Trump.
MS Now president Rebecca Kutler issued a statement saying she stands behind the reporting.
She stands behind a story whose reporters couldn't name a date, couldn't name a friend, and described a security detail that didn't exist yet.
This Is the Same Network That Spent Four Years Lying About Russia
Think about who these two reporters are.
Carol Leonnig is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who spent 25 years at the Washington Post before joining MS Now – the network that spent four straight years telling you Trump was a Russian asset, that the Steele Dossier was credible, that collusion was real.
She brought the same playbook with her.
Pick a target in Trump's orbit.
Find someone with a grudge or an agenda.
Shield them behind anonymity so nobody can check whether they exist.
Publish it as if "three people with knowledge" is the same as proof.
The White House already flagged both reporters by name on its official Media Bias Reporter page for this exact story, noting they published their claims despite anonymous and unreliable sourcing – and that when the FBI pressed them for basic facts, they had none to give.
Pulitzers didn't make Carol Leonnig accurate.
They just made her harder to hold accountable – until now.
The case has been assigned to Trump-nominated Judge Eli Jeremy Richardson in Nashville.
Kash Patel is separately suing The Atlantic for $250 million over a story claiming he has a habit of excessive drinking – with the same legal team, the Binnall Law Group, handling both cases.
That's not a coincidence.
It's a strategy: document the pattern, name the reporters, and make the corporate media pay a price for hiding fabrications behind anonymous sources.
A Nashville jury is going to get to weigh in on whether that strategy works.
Sources:
- Washington Examiner, "Kash Patel's girlfriend Alexis Wilkins sues MS Now for defamation," Washington Examiner, June 1, 2026.
- The Gateway Pundit, "FBI Director Kash Patel's Girlfriend Alexis Wilkins Sues MS Now Reporters Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian," The Gateway Pundit, June 2, 2026.
- White House Media Bias Reporter, "Ken Dilanian," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed June 2, 2026.
- White House Media Bias Reporter, "Carol Leonnig," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed June 2, 2026.
- Reason/Volokh Conspiracy, "Alexis Wilkins, FBI Director's Kash Patel's Girlfriend, Sues MS Now for Defamation," Reason.com, May 31, 2026.
