MS NOW is such a mess.
Not only does it now have a ridiculous name, but it also continues its ridiculous "reporting" as well. The outlet embarrassed itself badly on Wednesday. MS NOW's justice and intelligence reporter Ken Dilanian shared that FBI Director Kash Patel had just landed in Russia, based on information from two of his "sources." The network then went on to criticize the trip.
Dilanian fretted that his FBI sources were concerned because they didn’t know why Patel was in Russia and suggested the trip would "raise a lot of eyebrows," in part due to his potential hosts being the FSB, Russia's security service.
But as RedState reported, there was a small problem with this whole story. As the Assistant Director for Public Affairs at the FBI, Ben Williamson, pointed out, at that moment, Patel was at a law enforcement event in Lynchburg, Virginia.
I have had many strange experiences in life, but in tier 1 had to be seeing a clip of MS Now reporting breaking news that Kash Patel has “just landed in Russia” - right as I’m receiving pics of Kash Patel doing a law enforcement appreciation event today in Lynchburg, Virginia https://t.co/U0Cn3LfL6R
— Ben Williamson (@_WilliamsonBen) October 14, 2026
Today, I was proud to welcome @FBIDirectorKash to Lynchburg for a roundtable discussion I hosted with local law enforcement and students from Liberty University School of Law. Director Patel and I are committed to protecting victims, not criminals. We want the next generation to understand that our laws are meant to be enforced. We would not have a country without our men and women in uniform, and we are committed to ensuring they have the resources they need to protect and serve.
— Congressman John McGuire (@RepJohnMcGuire) October 14, 2026
The event in Virginia was covered by the local news, and Patel took a picture with GOP Rep. John McGuire (VA-05).
Now, Dilanian is expressing his regret. But the "apology" was something else.
Ken Dilanian has admitted the "Patel in Russia" scoop isn't real, but, of course, he had to pat himself on the back while doing so, "I want to correct reporting from earlier today. I reported that two sources had told us that FBI director Kash Patel had landed in Russia for a planned trip that had been reported about recently. We've since learned that Patel did not, in fact, land in Russia today and remains in the U.S. ...The timing of any potential trip remains unclear. Again, we regret this error and we are transparent about when we make errors. Back to you."
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) October 14, 2026
"I want to correct reporting from earlier today. I reported that two sources had told us that FBI Director Kash Patel had landed in Russia for a planned trip that had been reported about recently. We've since learned that Patel did not, in fact, land in Russia today and remains in the U.S. The FBI did not answer our questions when they asked them about it," Dilanian told MS NOW viewers.
"But we do know now that he has not already landed in Russia, as we reported earlier. The timing of any potential trip remains unclear," he continued. "Again, we regret this error, and we are transparent about when we make errors."
Translation? "Let me do the most desperate spin ever to justify this."
Not only did he have no facts for this story, but he refers to it as a "planned trip that had been reported about recently." Yet there has been no official confirmation from Patel or the FBI that there was ever such a trip "planned," just a media report mentioning this date and again citing anonymous sources described as a U.S. official and a person familiar with the matter. So talking about it being "planned" is sketchy here too, especially after the earlier report. And they wonder why people don't trust the media when they do things like this?
But there may also be something else worth noting here - that is, if these two "sources" of Dilanian's are actually real or have any actual connection to the FBI, it appears he just got burned by them. And this story may help trace the "leakers."
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