On October 31, Steven Palmer, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) employee with 27 years of experience, and was responsible for threats to security and the agency’s fleet of jets, was formally terminated from his position, after it was revealed that FBI Director Kash Patel used an agency jet to see his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, sing at a sporting event.
The three sources that helped Bloomberg Law break the story were shocked by the firing, as Patel’s flight schedule was known to the public, as is the case with every other FBI Director. This did not stop Patel from making Palmer a scapegoat.
However, try as he may, the details of Patel’s use of taxpayer money to satisfy his personal needs are available to the public.
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. That evening Wilkins performed at a Real American Freestyle wrestling event, and the flight logs show Patel’s FBI plane later flying to Nashville.
The Guardian
However, records relating to N708JH were censored on Flight Aware. Patel also decried “baseless rumors.” FBI Directors must use government jets, even for personal flights (though they must pay part of the cost); with this fact in mind, it is curious that Patel would be sensitive regarding discourse on this albeit legal abuse of taxpayer funds.
Hypocritically, Patel blasted former FBI Director Chris Wray for his use of government flights.
As the Daily Beast has noted, Patel was highly critical of Wray’s use of government jets for personal use when Wray was director of the bureau. In 2023, Patel scathingly dubbed Wray “#GovernmentGangster” and accused him of “jetting off on out (sic) tax payer dollars while dodging accountability for the implosion of the FBI on his watch”.
The Guardian
It remains to be seen if Patel will criticize himself for “jetting off on out tax payer dollars…”
Author’s note
After reading this story, I questioned where may taxpayer-funded jet was after flying out to see my partner. Jokes aside, Patel’s visit to Wilkins is a flagrant display of MAGA elitism. Patel gets to cheaply fly out without having to cram on an economy flight, while the rest of us get to suffer from a shutdown caused by Congressional Republicans and Trump himself. To those who still support Trump and the MAGA movement, I ask you to question why the White House and its minions get to live a life of luxury, while you may have to work past retirement, are dealing with debt, expensive groceries, or the countless other social and financial maladies that most of us contend with.
