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FBI Director Kash Patel took to social media on Sunday to rant against the media coverage of his alleged government jet usage.
“Let me be clear: we will not be distracted by baseless rumors or the noise from uninformed internet anarchists and the fake news,” Patel wrote on X in an apparent dig at the reports.
He went on: “I’ve always said — criticize me all you want. But going after the people doing great work, my personal life, or those around me is a total disgrace.”
Patel’s post comes after The Bulwark reported that he attended a performance that his girlfriend, country music singer Alexis Wilkins, did last weekend at Penn State.
The publication noted that a government jet took off from a northern Virginia airport and landed near Penn State roughly the same time as Patel’s visit.
That report also acknowledged that the FBI Director typically travels in a government jet for security purposes, but that its alleged usage in this instance was notable given Patel’s past critiques of how government officials utilized their jets.
On Friday, Patel reportedly forced Steven Palmer, a 27-year FBI veteran overseeing aviation, out of the agency, over the scrutiny of his flight logs, according to Bloomberg Law.
Patel also slammed the people who failed to speak up in his defense in his Sunday post.
“To our supposed allies staying silent — your silence is louder than the clickbait haters,” he wrote.