FBI Director Kash Patel spent Wednesday at a law enforcement event in Lynchburg, Virginia, even as cable network MS NOW told viewers he had “just landed in Russia.”
MS NOW justice and intelligence reporter Ken Dilanian cited two unnamed sources in reporting the Russia landing, and the network’s coverage raised questions about why Patel would be meeting with Russia’s FSB security service.
The claim collided with reality almost immediately. FBI Assistant Director for Public Affairs Ben Williamson said that at the exact moment the report aired, Patel was photographed at a law enforcement appreciation event in Lynchburg.
I have had many strange experiences in life, but in tier 1 had to be seeing a clip of MS Now reporting breaking news that Kash Patel has “just landed in Russia” – right as I’m receiving pics of Kash Patel doing a law enforcement appreciation event today in Lynchburg, Virginia
The Lynchburg event was hosted by GOP Rep. John McGuire, who represents Virginia’s 5th District. McGuire described a roundtable with local law enforcement and students from Liberty University School of Law.
Today, I was proud to welcome @FBIDirectorKash to Lynchburg for a roundtable discussion I hosted with local law enforcement and students from Liberty University School of Law. Director Patel and I are committed to protecting victims, not criminals. We want the next generation to understand that our laws are meant to be enforced. We would not have a country without our men and women in uniform, and we are committed to ensuring they have the resources they need to protect and serve.
Local news outlets covered the event, and Patel was photographed with McGuire. The visit left no ambiguity about the director’s whereabouts that day.
Dilanian later issued an on-air correction, telling MS NOW viewers the network had “since learned that Patel did not, in fact, land in Russia today and remains in the U.S.” He added that “the timing of any potential trip remains unclear” and said the network regretted the error and was “transparent about when we make errors.”
I want to correct reporting from earlier today. I reported that two sources had told us that FBI Director Kash Patel had landed in Russia for a planned trip that had been reported about recently. We’ve since learned that Patel did not, in fact, land in Russia today and remains in the U.S. The FBI did not answer our questions when they asked them about it.
Dilanian’s correction still referred to a “planned trip that had been reported about recently,” though neither Patel nor the FBI has publicly confirmed any such trip. The original report citing a planned Russia visit relied on anonymous sourcing described as a U.S. official and a person familiar with the matter.
For a readership skeptical of concentrated, unaccountable media power, the episode is a reminder of how quickly an unverified claim about a top law enforcement official’s whereabouts can spread, and how thin the correction can be when it doesn’t land.
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