In act of transparency, K$H Patel fires FBI leader after it becomes known Patel used FBI jet to see his girlfriend perform

FBI Ousts Leader as Patel Fumes Over Attention to Agency Jet Use​

The FBI forced out a senior official overseeing aviation shortly after Director Kash Patel grew outraged about revelations of his publicly-available jet logs indicating he’d flown to see his musician girlfriend perform, said three people familiar with the situation.

Steven Palmer, a 27-year veteran of the FBI, became the third head of the critical incident response group—which includes FBI pilots—to be fired or removed in Patel’s short regime, adding to a year filled with retributive terminations.

Palmer’s position included supervising the FBI’s aviation units, but Patel’s flight schedule was readily traceable through online tracking services and he reposted photos of himself with Wilkins at the event on his personal X account.

The people familiar with the matter said they were baffled as to why Patel might’ve blamed Palmer for the travel details.

FBI directors are required to use government aircraft for personal or business travel in order to maintain secure communications. But public attention of Patel’s weekend outing—fueled by an X post from a former FBI agent turned outspoken Patel critic—comes after Patel had criticized predecessors for personal travel on taxpayer-funded jets.

Patel shared on X an Oct. 30 post from his spokesman, which said articles and opposition to the director’s travel were “disingenuous and dumb” and “bad faith whining.”

[Just a note that, for commercial/philanthropic purposes, Patel styles himself thus as K$H]

Patel defends FBI leadership, jet use: ‘I’m entitled to a personal life’​

On Tuesday, House Democrats also launched an investigation into his jet usage, asking the FBI to turn over all flight records amid reports of Patel’s “date night” travels with his girlfriend and to sporting events as well as a hunting retreat called Boondoggle Ranch.

House Democrats on Tuesday slammed Patel for using the jet to meet his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, at an event where she performed before flying back to her home in Nashville. They also noted various trips to sporting events and the hunting trip as well as Patel’s efforts to remove the FBI jet from the flight tracking site Flight Aware.

“I’ve also used the airplane less than my prior two predecessors. And, yes, I’m entitled to a personal life just like my other agency counterparts with their partners. Do I support my girlfriend? Absolutely. And I do take trips with her? Absolutely,” he said.