‘Disingenuous and dumb’: FBI defends director Kash Patel over use of $60M jet, says no rules were broken

Kash Patel allegedly used the jet to attend his girlfriend's singing performance at a wrestling event in Pennsylvania.(X)

The FBI has pushed back against claims that Director Kash Patel misused a $60 million government jet to attend his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins', performance in Pennsylvania, saying Patel broke no rules and pays full reimbursement for personal travel in advance.

The allegation was made by former FBI agent and podcaster Kyle Seraphin, who accused Patel of using the FBI jet for personal reasons during the ongoing government shutdown. “We’re in the middle of a government shutdown where they’re not even gonna pay all of the employees that work for the agency that this guy heads,” Seraphin said. “And this guy is jetting off to hang out with his girlfriend in Nashville on our dime?”

Responding to the criticism, FBI assistant director for public affairs Ben Williamson called such accusations “disingenuous and dumb.” In a post on X, he explained that under federal law, FBI directors are “required use travelers,” meaning they are mandated by Congress to travel on government planes even for personal trips to ensure access to secure communications.

“On personal travel, the Director pays a reimbursement in advance—strictly following OMB rules,” Williamson said, adding that Patel has “significantly limited personal travel” and is “on duty 24/7 regardless.”

Williamson noted that Patel takes additional steps to cut costs by using government airfields, which are “about 2.5 times cheaper” than airports such as Washington’s DCA. “His predecessors did not do this,” he said. “Chris Wray, for example, took 772 trips and over two-thirds were out of DCA, costing $3.9 million—$2.2 million more than if he had used a government airfield. James Comey took nearly 500 trips, half out of DCA, costing $1.8 million—about $1 million more than Patel’s approach would have cost.”

Defending Patel’s performance, the FBI pointed to a record year for the agency under his leadership, citing “29,000 arrests—an over 100% increase from last year—6,000 illegal firearms seized, 5,000 child victims located, and 300 human traffickers arrested.”

“This FBI is delivering, and it’s because of a great team working incredibly hard with Kash Patel and Dan Bongino at the helm,” Williamson said. “We have zero time for people who peddle trash because they have nothing better to do.”