The FBI’s answer was a video of its director at a law school in Virginia. That settled, for the moment, a report that Kash Patel had landed in Russia.
On Wednesday, 14 October, MS Now cited two unnamed sources in saying Patel had arrived in Russia for a planned meeting. The bureau posted on X that this was false. Patel, it said, was at Liberty University for a law enforcement appreciation event. Footage from a local ABC station showed him on a panel at the university’s law school in Lynchburg. Patel added his own line: “Facts over clickbait.” MS Now reporter Ken Dilanian then pulled the story back. “The timing of any potential trip remains unclear,” he said.
Where the trip story began
The rumour had a real root. Politico had reported in July that Patel planned to go to Russia in the fall, probably mid-October, as a guest of the Federal Security Service, the FSB. The itinerary was said to include Moscow and St. Petersburg, starting 14 October. The FBI has not confirmed any travel plans.
Opposition grew in public. In a letter dated Oct. 9, Rep. Jamie Raskin, who leads House Judiciary Committee Democrats, and Rep. Jim Himes, his counterpart on the House intelligence panel, urged Patel to cancel. They cited “urgent national security concerns”, among them the FSB’s record of espionage against American officials. They called Russia a “hostile foreign power”. The FBI did not reply to the letter, Yahoo reported.
The Atlantic reported the same week that a quiet campaign inside the FBI was working to scrap the trip. The letter also framed the visit as one part of broader FBI cooperation with Russian and Chinese police agencies, drawing on Reuters reporting about new partnerships with both.
Moscow’s recent visitors
Patel would not be the first senior Trump administration figure to go. Central Intelligence Agency chief John Ratcliffe was in Moscow on Aug. 25, reportedly to warn against hostilities with NATO members, cyberattacks included.
The timing is awkward. FMT noted that the false report came just weeks before the Nov 3 midterms, and days after Trump announced a deal for sanctioned Russian diesel. On Tuesday, a dozen senators from both parties asked him to drop it, saying it would bankroll Moscow’s war and let Ukraine down.
According to The Atlantic’s Oct. 9 investigation, Patel has pushed for warmer ties with Moscow ever since he took charge of the bureau in February 2025, which has unsettled people inside the FBI.
Sources
- US Democrats call on FBI Director Kash Patel to cancel upcoming trip to Russia
- FBI says director is in Virginia, denying reported trip to Russia | FMT
- MS NOW Retracts Report Claiming FBI Director Kash Patel Landed in Russia | NTD
- FBI reveals Kash Patel is not in Russia — exposing MS Now false report
