Kash Patel Demands Apology from MS NOW Over False Russia Report

FBI Director Kash Patel is demanding an apology from MS NOW after the network falsely reported that he had traveled to Russia for meetings. Patel stated that the report was a "basic verification failure" and that the network had to issue a correction.

"MS NOW put me in Russia based on two anonymous sources. I was in Virginia, honoring law enforcement at Liberty University," Patel wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "This was a basic verification failure. They were wrong about my location, and they are wrong about the successes of this FBI and our partnership with State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement."

Patel argued that if MS NOW cannot verify his location, the public cannot trust its reporting on the work of law enforcement agents. He called for "three apologies are owed: to this FBI, to the law enforcement community, and to the American People."

MS NOW anchor Peter Alexander initially reported the "breaking news" that Patel had "landed in Russia," citing two FBI sources. Correspondent Ken Dilanian's report suggested concerns within the FBI about the alleged visit to the Kremlin.

Shortly after the report aired, the FBI Rapid Response account on X corrected the information, stating that Patel was in Virginia for a law enforcement appreciation event. Dilanian later issued a correction on-air, stating, "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."

MS NOW did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital, but a spokesperson had previously pointed to the network's on-air correction. The article notes that there had been speculation about whether the false report was an attempt to expose leakers within the FBI, though an FBI official declined to confirm or deny such an operation.