(Ken Silva, Headline USA) More evidence continues to be reported about how FBI Director Kash Patel has snookered the MAGA movement.
Far from shutting down the FBI’s headquarters and turning it into a “museum for the deep state”—as he said he would before he was nominated—Patel has maintained the status quo in the bureau. Furthermore, he’s flip-flopped on domestic surveillance and now supports warrantless spying, he’s yet to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, and he hasn’t exposed the U.S. government’s involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, protests-turned-riots. In fact, he’s even promoted a top FBI official who hunted J6ers over the last four years.
And now, according to the New York Times, he’s cruising around on the FBI jet, courtesy of U.S. taxpayers. He’s probably using the jet to visit his girlfriend in Tennessee, too, the Times reported Sunday.
Kash is using the FBI jet to visit his girlfriend https://t.co/ZXecX4o55g pic.twitter.com/LEVK1XSeh4
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) April 20, 2025
“Mr. Patel is enjoying bachelorhood, dating Alexis Wilkins, 26, a country music singer who lives in Nashville. Despite the challenges of being director, Mr. Patel appears to be making time for her,” the Times reported.
“According to flight-tracking data, one of the bureau’s Gulfstream jets has made three round trips to Nashville. On at least one of those stops, Mr. Patel conducted official business, visiting the local field office and meeting with Tennessee’s Republican senators, Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, along with sheriffs from around the state,” the newspaper reported.
“There is little information about the other trips, including who covered the cost, but it is not unusual for the director to take an F.B.I. plane for personal reasons. Directors must fly on government aircraft for their travel because of required access to secure communications equipment.”
The Times also reported that Patel took the FBI jet to a hockey game on April 6.
The Times explained that FBI directors must reimburse the government for use of the plane at the price of a commercial ticket. However, the price of a commercial ticket is far less than the cost of running a private FBI jet, the Times noted.
The Times added that the FBI is exploring the possibility of buying yet another jet for “required-use executive travel.”
“It was not clear why the bureau needed another plane,” the Times said.
Republicans, including Sen. Chuck Grassley, frequently railed against former FBI Director Chris Wray’s use of the FBI jet.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
