FBI Ousts Leader as Patel Fumes Over Attention to Agency Jet Use [View all]
The FBI forced out a senior official overseeing aviation shortly after Director Kash Patel grew outraged about revelations of his publicly-available jet logs indicating he’d flown to see his musician girlfriend perform, said three people familiar with the situation.
Steven Palmer, a 27-year veteran of the FBI, became the third head of the critical incident response group—which includes FBI pilots—to be fired or removed in Patel’s short regime, adding to a year filled with retributive terminations.
His exit was made official Friday, and a replacement to head the bureau’s crisis management operations including hostage rescue and bomb detection, has already been posted on the FBI’s website.
Patel was angered this week by social media posts and news stories calling attention to his use of an FBI jet that arrived in State College, Pennsylvania, where his girlfriend, country music artist Alexis Wilkins, sang the national anthem at a wrestling match, said the individuals, who spoke anonymously out of fear of retaliation.
Palmer was told he needed to immediately resign or be fired, which the individuals said was at least partially connected to Patel’s fury over the negative media cycle on his personal travel.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/fbi-ousts-leader-as-patel-fumes-over-attention-to-agency-jet-use
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