 "FBI sacks top official as Kash Patel continues to face backlash over jet row")
A top FBI official who worked with the agency for 27 years was reportedly fired from his job after the bureau’s director, Kash Patel, became enraged by press stories revealing he had used a government jet to travel to see his girlfriend. Media reports suggested that Kash was travelling to meet his girlfriend, who sang the national anthem at a wrestling match.
According to Bloomberg, Steven Palmer, who had worked at the bureau since 1998, was fired as head of the FBI’s critical incident response group. The body is responsible for handling security threats as well as overseeing the agency’s fleet of jets. Interestingly, he was the third head of the unit to be dismissed since Patel became the FBI director in February.
Three sources close to the matter expressed astonishment at the sacking, given that Patel’s flight schedules were fully public and trackable on websites. Patel garnered backlash after he reposted photos showing him together with his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, on his X account.
Patel is reportedly furious over the debacle
According to Bloomberg, Patel was furious over stories published after the event about his use of the FBI jet to go on a date with Wilkins. Amid the reports, Palmer was told that he must resign instantly or be fired. The dismissal was eventually made possible on Friday.
Flight logs publicly trackable on Flight Aware for Patel’s plane, N708JH, show that the jet landed at an airport near Penn State on 25 October. It was the same evening Wilkins performed at a Real American Freestyle wrestling event, and the flight logs show Patel’s FBI plane later flying to Nashville.
Amid the chaos, Patel posted a lengthy statement on his X account in which he said he refused to be “distracted by baseless rumours or the noise from uninformed internet anarchists and the fake news”. He said it was a “disgrace” to go after “people doing great work, my personal life, or those around me”, reserving his harshest words for what he called the “disgustingly baseless attacks against Alexis – a true patriot and the woman I’m proud to call my partner in life”.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsHe went on to fuel further speculations by attacking “our supposed allies”, whom he lambasted for “staying silent”, though he did not name names. “Your silence is louder than the clickbait haters,” he said.
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