US Politics
FBI director ‘wanted to go to Premier League game instead of meeting MI5’
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FBI director Kash Patel reportedly wanted to go to Premier League football matches instead of attending office-based meetings with international allies, including the UK’s MI5 director.
A senior FBI executive told The New York Times that Mr Patel didn’t want to go to meetings in offices when he attended a secret Five Eyes Conference – a meeting of intelligence services from the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States – in May.
Instead, Mr Patel wished to prioritise social events, including live sport and jet skiing, the source said.
The executive said, “Before the conference, his staff says he’s unhappy because he doesn’t like meetings in office settings. What he wants is social events. He wants Premier soccer games.
“He wants to go jet skiing. He’d like a helicopter tour. Everyone who heard about this was like: Hold on.
“Is he really going to ask the MI5 director to go jet skiing instead of meeting? The schedule is set, and every Five Eyes partner is doing this.
“They can’t just say that he’s not participating and instead he wants to go to a Premier soccer game. This is a job, guys.”
The White House denied the claims in the story and said it was a “regurgitation of fake narratives”, and the report was filled with “speculation from anonymous sources”.
Mr Patel is seemingly a fan of reigning Premier League champions Liverpool FC.
He wore a club tie to a US senate hearing last September and has tweeted about his support for them, notably celebrating Arne Slot’s side’s Premier League title win last April.
As well as his wish to watch Premier League football, the NYT article includes a number of accusations that Mr Patel’s first year leading the FBI has resulted in sweeping changes, which sources claimed have made the United States less safe.
Mr Patel allegedly prioritised planning social media posts for himself, former deputy Dan Bongino and the Salt Lake City field office in the moments after right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated, as senior executives and field offices were trying to brief officials on the situation.
“[Patel] and Bongino start talking about their Twitter strategy,” the senior FBI executive told NYT. “And Kash is like: I’m gonna tweet this. Salt Lake, you tweet that. Dan, you come in with this. Then I’ll come back with this.
“They’re literally scripting out their social media, not talking about how we’re going to respond or resources or the situation. He’s screaming that he wants to put stuff out, but it’s not even vetted yet. It’s not even accurate.”
The Independent has approached the White House for comment.
In a statement to NYT, the FBI said, “This story is a regurgitation of fake narratives, conjecture and speculation from anonymous sources who are disconnected from reality. They can whine and peddle falsehoods all they want — but it won’t change the facts that the F.B.I. under this administration worked with partners at every level and delivered a historic 2025.”
The White House said in its statement to the New York Times: “President Trump and F.B.I. Director Kash Patel are restoring integrity to the F.B.I. by returning its focus to fighting crime and letting good cops be cops.”
