CBS, NBC Caught in Fake News Narrative About FBI Director Patel’s Trip to Winter Olympics – RedState

If mainstream media “journalists” are wondering why many conservatives aren’t returning their calls or emails, the CBS News and MSNOW articles on FBI Director Kash Patel’s trip to the Winter Olympics are a great example to show them. We know that if we respond to them, everything said or written will be taken out of context, or even used. They have already written the play and decided on the narrative before contacting the subject of the play – or even contacting them at all.

So here’s the story being peddled by CBS and MSNOW: Patel, who plays hockey in a recreational league, commandeered the FBI’s Gulfstream jet to go see the U.S. men’s hockey team play in Milan, Italy. Just for fun.

Here is the title from MSNOW: Kash Patel heads to Milan for Olympics – aboard FBI jet

And CBS News: FBI Director Kash Patel takes agency plane to Italy, plans to attend Olympic hockey games, sources say

The CBS article was published first and was essentially a rehash of old complaints about Patel’s use of the FBI plane and public flight tracking information. The outlet said Patel’s office did not respond to a request for comment before publication, but did not reveal what that request said. Did they say they were going to claim he was using the FBI plane for personal entertainment? Or did they just ask for confirmation that Patel was heading to Milan?

When the article was published, Ben Williamson, FBI assistant director for public affairs, said on social media:

This article is designed to mislead – CBS just looks at public flight tracking, guesses, then fills the space with old news and quotes from Democrats.

No, this is not a personal journey. Director Patel is on a trip planned months ago. This includes: partner meetings with Italian law enforcement and security officials (they invited the director last July), a meeting with Ambassador Fertitta (as a follow-up to our law enforcement roundtable he organized in January), meetings with Legat staff, and much more.

The FBI also plays a major role in Olympic security – as we do with the World Cup, F1 and more – so we are hosting a US Consulate briefing on Olympic security and the FBI’s current position, as well as thanks to FBI personnel on the ground.

Williamson went on to say:

Kash just called me and said to add “Please tell them yes, I support the greatest team in the world, from the greatest country in the world. Go Team USA 🇺🇸.” cc: @CBSNews, please add.

CBS later updated its story to note Williamson’s public response — well, part of it, anyway. They left out the part that the FBI would have a major role in Olympic security during the current games, and given that the United States is hosting the 2028 Summer Games, it makes sense that the FBI director would want to be on the ground for at least part of the Milan games to personally observe what’s going well and what’s not going well.

MSNOW then wanted in on the action and when they contacted Patel’s office, Williamson said he gave them “virtually the entire official schedule of the director’s meetings while he was in Italy.”

I literally gave this rag almost the entire schedule of the director’s official meetings while I was in Italy and they still tweeted this bullshit https://t.co/Tmo5r5ne0o

– Ben Williamson (@_WilliamsonBen) February 19, 2026

Yet they opted for the extremely misleading title referenced above and these two introductory paragraphs:

FBI Director Kash Patel flew today on the FBI’s Gulfstream jet to the Winter Olympics in Italy to watch one of his favorite sports: men’s ice hockey, according to three people familiar with his plans.

Patel, an avid hockey player and fan, will be present at the Olympic festivities and plans to attend the bronze medal competition in men’s ice hockey on Saturday and the gold medal competition on Sunday, the sources said.

Only then did MSNOW add:

An FBI official confirmed Patel’s travel plans but said he had several official government purposes for attending, including a meeting with an ambassador, Olympics security briefings and other government meetings.

Ashamed.

Editor’s note: The mainstream media continues to distract, spin, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.

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