Overview
- Shauni Kerkhoff filed a six-count defamation suit Tuesday against Blaze Media and former reporter Steve Baker seeking unspecified damages and hiring defamation firm Clare Locke.
- The complaint says a Nov. 8, 2025 Blaze article used so-called gait analysis of security footage to name her as the bomber, a claim the outlet later retracted after the December arrest and confession of Brian Cole Jr.
- The lawsuit alleges FBI agents put her on leave from her CIA security job, searched her home with a bomb truck, helicopter, dogs, and armed teams, and then gave her a lengthy polygraph, after which she says she returned to work when video showed her at home with her dog.
- The filing says Baker shared his accusations with staff for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and cites CBS reporting that her office drafted a memo naming Kerkhoff as a possible suspect, while the FBI declined comment on the litigation.
- Blaze later dismissed Baker, and the case could clarify the legal risk when media amplify untested methods to publicly label a private person as a criminal suspect.