FBI fires top official amid Kash Patel’s fury over reports of agency’s use of planes | FBI
The bureau reportedly fired a top FBI official 27 years ago after its director, Kash Patel, became enraged by newspaper stories revealing he had used a government plane to fly to see his girlfriend sing the national anthem at a wrestling match.
Stephen Palmer, who had worked at the bureau since 1998, was removed from his position as head of the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group, which is responsible for handling major security threats as well as overseeing the agency’s aircraft fleet. He was the third head of the unit to be fired since Patel became Trump’s second FBI director in February.
Bloomberg Law, which Break the storyHe said three unnamed sources expressed surprise at the dismissal given that Patel’s travel schedules were entirely public and could be tracked on websites. A day after performing it, Patel himself did so Repost photos It shows him with his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, on his X account.
According to Bloomberg, Patel became angry over stories published after the event about him using an FBI plane to go on a date with Wilkins. Shortly after, Palmer was told he could resign immediately or be fired.
The dismissal became official on Friday.
Publicly traceable flight records on Flight Aware for Battelle’s plane, N708JH, show that the plane landed at an airport near Pennsylvania on October 25. That evening, Wilkins performed at a Real American Freestyle event, and flight records show Battle’s FBI plane later flying to Nashville.
Records of the N708JH’s movements were blocked on the Flight Aware website as of Sunday. Searching for the government aircraft returns a message stating that it is “unavailable for public tracking per owner/operator request.”
On Sunday, Patel posted a Long statement On his He said it was a “shame” to go after “people who are doing great work, my personal life, or those around me,” reserving his harshest words for what he called “disgusting attacks against Alexis — a true patriot and the woman I am proud to call my partner in life.”
He also sparked further speculation by attacking “our supposed allies” whom he criticized for “remaining silent,” although he did not name names. “Your silence is louder than the clickbait haters,” he said.
In an earlier statement, his spokesman, Ben Williamson, noted that the FBI director is required under government rules to pay some compensation for his private jet travel, and claimed that Patel made “significantly limited” personal trips compared to his predecessors, Chris Wray and James Comey. “He is allowed to take personal time on occasion to see family, friends or his long-term girlfriend,” the spokesperson said.
as Daily Beast As he noted, Patel was highly critical of Ray’s use of government aircraft for personal use when Ray was the bureau’s director. In 2023, Patel scathingly dubbed Wray a “#GovernmentGangster” and accused him of “throwing away taxpayer money while evading accountability for the collapse of the FBI on his watch.”
Palmer’s dismissal makes him the third head of the FBI’s Serious Incident Response Group to be eliminated under Patel’s leadership. Wes Wheeler was fired in March, and Brian Driscoll in August.
Driscoll is now suing the Trump administration for wrongful termination, claiming he was targeted because he showed disloyalty to the president.
Patel was traveling on a government plane for a date night Spotted for the first time By Kyle Serafin, the former FBI agent who became a thorn in the side of the Trump administration. His podcast is scathingly critical of the current leadership of the FBI.
“We’re in the middle of a government shutdown…and this guy is traveling to hang out with his girlfriend in Nashville on a dime from us?” Serafin said in a Recent podcasts.
The government shutdown that Serafin alluded to has entered its 32nd day.
In a separate, unpleasant development for him, Patel is facing heavy criticism from a Michigan defense attorney who is disputing the FBI director’s allegations on Friday that… Five young men They were arrested while planning a terrorist attack on Halloween. Lawyer Amir Makled, who represents one of the five individuals, said that after reviewing the case, he was convinced that there would be no such terrorist event in the future.
Makled told the Associated Press that the FBI director’s claims were “hysterical and fear-mongering.” The five men were between 16 and 20 years old, were US citizens and were gamers.
“I don’t think there was anything illegal in any of the activities they were doing,” he said.