FBI Director Kash Patel has had a bit of an up-and-down run since taking his post.
He took heat from MAGA over the Epstein files, and he has also had a few “scandals” break in recent weeks.
MS NOW then published a report that he was on his way out the door at Trump's behest, an assertion the White House is now denying.
Outside of the usual banter in the media, Patel has been hit with two rather significant controversies in recent weeks.
First, there were the reports that he was providing enhanced protection for his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, using elite FBI agents who are usually working with the SWAT unit due to alleged threats being made against her.
Then there was a report that Patel has been using the FBI’s jet to visit Wilkins, hitting taxpayers with the tab. Reports then broke that an agent who had been with the FBI for nearly three decades was terminated over the leak.
Finally, we had yet more reports that the administration was upset over the way Patel had reported on the Charlie Kirk assassination probe, prematurely announcing agents had the suspected assassin in custody. Patel tried to temper the outrage by saying he was simply being transparent in every aspect of the investigation.
On Tuesday, MS NOW published a report that Trump was considering breaking with Patel and moving on with a new director at the FBI.
In part, the article stated, “President Donald Trump is considering removing Kash Patel as FBI director in the coming months, as he and his top aides have grown increasingly frustrated by the unflattering headlines Patel has recently generated, according to three people with knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity in order to speak freely.”
The story referenced the controversies we mentioned above, including the notion that Trump loyalists were not quite as fond of Patel as they had been when he was first named as the director of the FBI.
As noted above, the source for the story was anonymous, and as we have learned over the last few years, far too often, these anonymous sources are simply saying what they think or what the media wants to hear rather than anything based on fact.
When White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about the report, she immediately dismissed it as “fake news.”
She posted to X, "This story is completely made up. In fact, when this Fake News published, I was in the Oval Office, where President Trump was meeting with his law enforcement team, including FBI Director Kash Patel.”
She continued, "I read the headline to the President and he laughed. He said: 'What? That’s totally false. Come on Kash, let’s take a picture to show them you’re doing a great job!'"
If there is anything that will get Trump to backtrack if he was indeed considering firing Patel, it would be for the media to say he is definitely being fired. If Patel was on the hot seat, this report likely bought him some time, something that MS NOW correspondent Ken Dilanian even admitted, stating, "I said in the last hour that we may have enhanced Kash Patel's job security by reporting this story. And that seems to be playing out.”
