By Steve Neavling
A veteran FBI official was fired after Director Kash Patel became enraged over media reports revealing he used a government jet to watch his girlfriend perform at a wrestling match, Bloomberg Law reports.
Steven Palmer, who joined the bureau in 1998 and led its Critical Incident Response Group, was dismissed Friday. He was the third head of the elite unit fired since Patel took over as FBI director in February.
Bloomberg Law, which first reported the firing, cited sources saying Patel was furious about stories detailing his use of the FBI jet to visit country singer Alexis Wilkins, who sang the national anthem at a Real American Freestyle wrestling event near Penn State on Oct. 25. Flight logs show the plane then flew to Nashville, where Wilkins lives.
Palmer was told to resign immediately or be terminated, Bloomberg reported.
After the reports surfaced, Patel blasted “baseless rumors” on X, calling it a “disgrace” to attack “people doing great work, my personal life, or those around me.” He called Wilkins “a true patriot and the woman I’m proud to call my partner in life.”
Patel’s spokesperson, Ben Williamson, said the director reimburses the government for personal travel and had “significantly limited” such trips compared with former FBI directors Chris Wray and James Comey.
“He’s allowed to take personal time on occasion to see family, friends or his longtime girlfriend,” Williamson said.
The firing adds to turmoil under Patel’s leadership. His two predecessors at the unit, Wes Wheeler and Brian Driscoll, were also removed this year. Driscoll later sued, alleging he was ousted for disloyalty to the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, Patel is facing criticism in Michigan after claiming five young men were arrested for planning a Halloween terror attack. Their attorney, Amir Makled, told the Associated Press the claims were “hysteria and fearmongering,” adding, “I don’t believe that there’s anything illegal about any of the activity they were doing.”
