FBI Director Kash Patel has hit back at the “beyond pathetic” reports that he used a government jet to see his girlfriend perform at a wrestling event, claiming they were an attempt to smear his “rock-solid conservative” partner.
Last week, it emerged that Patel, 45, went to see his girlfriend, 26-year-old country music singer Alexis Wilkins, perform at the Real American Freestyle event at Pennsylvania State University.
Patel has reportedly become so incensed by media stories about the incident that he ousted a senior FBI official who had been at the agency for 27 years, according to Bloomberg Law.
The FBI director took to X on Sunday to voice his frustration at the attention the story received.
“The disgustingly baseless attacks against Alexis — a true patriot and the woman I’m proud to call my partner in life — are beyond pathetic,” Patel said. “She is a rock-solid conservative and a country music sensation who has done more for this nation than most will in ten lifetimes. I’m so blessed she’s in my life.”
Patel claimed that attacks on him and his girlfriend “jeopardizes our safety” and hit out at “supposed allies staying silent” amid the fallout.
He added: “I’ve always said — criticize me all you want. But going after the people doing great work, my personal life, or those around me is a total disgrace.”
Patel did not reference the story, first reported by The Bulwark, that he took a government jet to see his partner perform.
His statement also did not address reports that Steven Palmer, a FBI veteran who oversaw aviation, was forced out following Patel’s anger over the intense media coverage.
Palmer was ousted even though Patel’s flight logs were publicly available, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the news of the veteran federal employee’s departure.
Patel’s spokesperson, Ben Williamson, also launched a lengthy defense of his boss on X earlier in the week and said criticism was “disingenuous and dumb.”
Williamson said that Patel had “significantly limited” personal travel compared with his predecessors Chris Wray and James Comey, and pointed out that the director “pays a reimbursement in advance,” adhering to government rules for personal travel.
“He’s allowed to take personal time on occasion to see family, friends or his longtime girlfriend. He doesn’t do it often,” Williamson said.
Patel hit out at Wray, his predecessor, in 2023 when he used government jets for personal use and accused him of “jetting off on out [sic] tax payer dollars while dodging accountability for the implosion of the FBI on his watch.”
The trouble began for Patel when Wilkins posted a selfie with him from the event last Saturday. It didn’t take long for internet sleuths to work out how the FBI director got there, as flight logs were publicly available on flight-tracking site FlightAware.
The jet appeared to have taken a roughly 40-minute-long flight from the Manassas Regional Airport in Virginia to State College Regional Airport on October 25, according to the logs. Roughly two and a half hours later, the jet departed from State College for Nashville, where Wilkins lives. A passenger manifesto for the jet was not released.
It has been another difficult week for the embattled FBI director.
Officials at the FBI and the Justice Department were reportedly “frustrated” after Patel posted that a Michigan terror investigation had been foiled before a criminal complaint was prepared and details were clear, MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian reported.
This weekend, a lawyer for one of the suspects has claimed that the terror plot never existed, the Associated Press reports.
The lawyer for one of five young men arrested in what the FBI said was a conspiracy to carry out a Halloween terror attack has said his client was only part of a gaming chat.
Amir Makled, who represents a 20-year-old suspect from Dearborn, Michigan, told the Detroit News he thought there was no conspiracy and said he expected there would be no charges. He told the outlet the young men may have been looking at questionable content online, but insisted there was no evidence of a terror plot in any of their communications.
“I don’t know where this hysteria and this fearmongering came from,” Makled told AP.
FBI Director Patel says multiple people were arrested in Michigan in a Halloween weekend attack plot
MTG to spend Election Day on ‘The View’ as feud with Mike Johnson goes full boil
Trump claims he doesn’t know who Binance founder is - despite pardoning him
Trump says ICE raids ‘haven’t gone far enough’ when confronted about brutal tactics
Jake Tapper says Trump official’s Blue Jays dig was ‘harsh’ after World Series loss
Nearly half in US don’t think anyone will make America great again
