On a far-right podcast, Kash Patel previously called on Congress to ground then-FBI Director Christopher Wray’s government-funded jet if the FBI didn’t answer congressional questions

Patel, who is currently facing scrutiny for his personal use of a government plane, told X22 Report in 2023: “You don’t need a government funded G-5 jet so you can fly off to the Adirondacks for vacation”

Written by Alex Kaplan

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During appearances on a far-right podcast, FBI Director Kash Patel, who is currently facing criticism over his personal use of a government plane, previously criticized his predecessor, then-Director Christopher Wray, for his own use of a “government-funded G-5 jet.” He even suggested that “there’s pockets of money that Congress gives” the FBI that Congress “can hold and literally fence” until Wray answers questions and provides documents. “That jet is grounded, and you’re not going anywhere,” Patel suggested at the time.

In late October, Patel came under scrutiny for reportedly using a government plane to attend his country singer girlfriend's performance. In response, Patel reportedly fired “a senior official overseeing aviation” at the bureau “at least partially” over his travel becoming public and the “negative media cycle on his personal travel,” though aspects of Patel’s alleged itinerary were already publicly available online and “people familiar with the matter said they were baffled as to why Patel might’ve blamed” the official “for the travel details.” Patel subsequently criticized scrutiny of the incident, claiming people were targeting his girlfriend and that “it’s cowardly and jeopardizes our safety.” (As Bloomberg noted, “FBI directors are required to use government aircraft for personal or business travel in order to maintain secure communications.”)

Meanwhile, some have pointed out Patel’s repeated criticism of Wray for his use of a government plane.

Media Matters has also found that during repeated appearances as a commentator on X22 Report — a podcast that reporter Justin Ling has called “arguably the most popular and consistent regular news show by and for QAnon supporters” — Patel specifically called for congressional Republicans to “literally fence” or “put arms around” funding and keep Wray's government-funded plane grounded until he answered congressional questions and provided them documents.

On September 30, 2023, Patel, expressing frustration over congressional Republicans not getting information about supposed illegalities from the Department of Justice and FBI, urged legislators to “take some of their money” from the agencies. Patel pointed to Wray’s travel as an example, saying, “You don’t need a government funded G-5 jet so you can fly off to the Adirondacks for vacation and fail to do your duty under the Constitution and provide this documentation to the American public.”

From the September 30, 2023, edition of X22 Report, streamed on Rumble

KASH PATEL: And Congress has ceded its entire constitutional oversight authority to [Christopher] Wray and [Merrick] Garland, and they’ve run over them every day and then backed the truck up ten hundred more times. So this is the problem we’re having. And we, the American people, are owed the documents from Congress. And I’ve talked about in my book, like, look, one of the quickest ways to get federal agencies in the executive branch to comply with congressional subpoenas is you take some of their money. Chris Wray, hey, you don’t need a government funded G-5 jet so you can fly off to the Adirondacks for vacation and fail to do your duty under the Constitution and provide this documentation to the American public. Same goes for Merrick Garland. These are simple measures that I don’t know why this Congress is just failing to take them.

On another appearance on the podcast a few months later, in early 2024, Patel urged a similar tactic, proposing that congressional Republicans tell Wray that “you’ve got a government-funded G-5 jet” and “until you answer this question and provide the documents, that jet is grounded, and you’re not going anywhere.”

From the January 30, 2024, edition of X22 Report, streamed on Rumble

KASH PATEL: We need to remind them that the FBI reports to Congress, not the other way around. And when they stonewall you with that type of tactic, you know, they need to do what we did in Russiagate when we were running that investigation. We sent out 17 subpoenas and however many people we wanted to interview, the attorney general, the FBI director, and they did the same thing. “Can’t talk about it, ongoing investigation, blah blah blah blah blah.” 

So you know what we did? We took their money. And I’m not saying shut down the FBI or the DOJ, but I’m saying there’s pockets of money that Congress gives them that they can hold and literally fence, or, like, you know, put arms around and say, “OK, Chris Wray, you’ve got a government-funded G-5 jet. Well, until you answer this question and provide the documents, that jet is grounded, and you’re not going anywhere. Oh, and that new FBI headquarters building you’re talking about? You are getting zero pennies for that building and that monstrosity until we get, Congress get — every single piece of information we want.”