Reports Allege FBI Director Kash Patel Used Government Jet for Personal Travel Amid Shutdown

Former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin has reignited criticism of FBI Director Kash Patel by alleging Patel used a Department of Justice–registered jet to fly from Virginia to Penn State on Oct. 25 to attend girlfriend Alexis Wilkins’s Real American Freestyle wrestling performance, then on to Nashville, based on flight-tracking records (News18, India Today, New Republic, Independent, Daily Beast). The claims went viral amid a partial government shutdown that has left many federal workers unpaid, prompting outrage that a government aircraft may have been used for personal travel during the funding lapse (News18, India Today, Daily Beast). Flight logs cited by critics show a roughly 40-minute flight from Manassas to State College and a subsequent leg to Nashville, and Wilkins posted photos showing Patel at the event, but the FBI has not confirmed whether he was aboard (Independent, New Republic, News18). By policy the FBI director must use government aircraft for secure communications and pay only the equivalent commercial coach fare for personal travel, which critics say leaves taxpayers covering the bulk of such trips (India Today, Daily Beast, Independent). Observers also noted the optics and charges of hypocrisy because Patel previously criticized former FBI Director Chris Wray for similar use of aircraft; Patel and the FBI have not publicly responded to these latest allegations (New Republic, Independent, Daily Beast).