Chief U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon granted Jim Stewartson’s motions to dismiss and to vacate a prior default judgment in his order. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)A Las Vegas federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit FBI director Kash Patel filed against a blogger he accused of describing him as a “Kremlin asset.” “(A)fter the defamatory statements, Mr. Patel was confirmed by the United States Senate as Director of the F.B.I.,” wrote the judge. Stewartson then challenged the default judgment through McLetchie and attorney Leo Wolpert, who have also represented the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Even if calling Mr. Patel a ‘Kremlin asset’ were not protected rhetorical hyperbole, subsequent reporting in fact supports Mr. Stewartson’s assertions,” wrote McLetchie and Wolpert.