FBI Director Patel Demands Apology for False Russia Report

FBI Director Kash Patel wants more than just a correction from MS NOW for their false report that he was in Russia. The network wrongly placed him there based on two anonymous sources, Patel said on X Thursday while he was actually in Virginia honoring law enforcement at Liberty University. He noted the station had to fix its mistake quickly.

Patel called this a basic verification failure. They were wrong about his location and wrong about the successes of this FBI and our partnership with State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement. If a network cannot confirm where I was before putting it on air, how can the public trust its reporting on the work our agents and officers do every day?

He stated this issue is bigger than a false story about him. The men and women of law enforcement deserve accurate reporting while they protect communities and take violent criminals off our streets. Three apologies are owed: to this FBI, to the law enforcement community, and to the American People.

MS NOW did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. A spokesperson previously pointed to the network's on-air correction instead of giving new details.

On Wednesday, MS NOW anchor Peter Alexander informed viewers of "breaking news" that Patel had "landed in Russia" to attend meetings. MS NOW justice correspondent Ken Dilanian's report cited two FBI sources and said there were concerns within the agency about Patel's alleged visit to the Kremlin. Shortly after the station ran its breaking news report, the FBI Rapid Response X account mocked the liberal network. They noted that Patel was actually in Virginia for a law enforcement appreciation event.

Dilanian later issued a correction on air. "I want to correct reporting from earlier today," he told MS NOW viewers. He explained they reported two sources said Patel landed in Russia for a planned trip recently reported about. 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 we asked them about it initially.

"But we do know now that he has not already landed in Russia, as we reported earlier," Dilanian continued. He admitted the timing of any potential trip remains unclear. Again, we regret this error, and we are transparent about when we make errors.

Critics speculate Dilanian's false report might stem from an effort to expose leakers within the FBI. An FBI official would neither confirm nor deny whether leadership had conducted such an operation but said the two leakers involved would likely be identified as a result. We are always hunting leakers, the FBI official told Fox News Digital.