MS NOW corrects report that FBI director Kash Patel landed in Russia

FBI director Kash Patel was in Virginia on Wednesday, 14 October, when MS NOW corrected an earlier report that he had landed in Russia. The correction matters because the network’s original account, based on two unnamed sources, had placed the head of the FBI on a trip involving meetings with Russia’s security service. The FBI said Patel was attending a law enforcement appreciation event at Liberty University.

How MS NOW corrected the Russia trip report

MS NOW’s Ken Dilanian reported during the 11 a.m. Eastern Time hour that Patel had landed in Russia for a meeting, according to Deadline. Reuters described the initial report as saying Patel had arrived for a two-day visit to Moscow and St Petersburg hosted by the FSB, Russia’s security service. Both accounts said the report cited two unnamed sources.

During Alicia Menendez’s 1 p.m. Eastern Time show, Dilanian said Patel had not landed in Russia and remained in the United States, Deadline reported. He said MS NOW had received no answer from the FBI when it asked about the report, expressed regret for the error and said the timing of any potential Russia trip was unclear. The accounts available do not establish whether a future trip was planned.

What placed Patel in Virginia

The FBI said Patel was in Virginia for a law enforcement event on 14 October, Reuters reported. Its Rapid Response account posted video of him at Liberty University in response to the Russia report, according to Deadline. Reuters also reported that video from an ABC News affiliate in Virginia showed Patel at an event in Lynchburg that day.

Patel called on MS NOW to apologize to the FBI and law enforcement in posts on X, Deadline reported. An MS NOW spokesperson referred Deadline to the on-air correction. Dilanian separately defended the network’s reporting about FBI criminal referrals, a different claim from the account of Patel’s whereabouts.