Secret Service Angry With FBI Director Kash Patel for Discussing ‘Potential Threat’ to UFC 250 Event

Kash Patel has reportedly angered the United States Secret Service.

On Tuesday, June 16, the FBI director, 46, shared a post on X revealing, “On June 10, FBI and our law enforcement partners became aware of a potential threat to the UFC America 250 event in Washington, D.C. involving individuals outside of the National Capital Region – and thanks to the rapid action of this FBI, our partners, and the Department of e operation, multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold.”

As Globe previously reported, the UFC Freedom 250 event took place on the White House South Lawn on Sunday, June 14, and also served as President Donald Trump‘s 80th birthday celebration.

Following Patel’s announcement, USSS Deputy Director Matt Quinn made a cryptic statement during a press conference about the situation, but did not name Patel.

“I’ll tell you a phrase I learned early in my career in the New York field office, and that’s don’t choke on your own smoke,” Quinn said, per CNN. “Anyone that believes that case was worked in a bubble is naive. The Secret Service led that investigation from the beginning. I’ll tell you that case is ongoing. In order to maintain the integrity of the investigation and the security plan, we chose not to leak it.”

An anonymous USSS official told CNN, “To put it out and just selfishly tweet it is just poor form,” referring to Patel. The official also said those on the case were astounded by Patel’s social media post.

Additionally, MS NOW reporter Ken Dilanian took to X Tuesday evening explaining that “Secret Service officials are furious” with Patel as he “prematurely announced on Tuesday morning the details of a sealed and ongoing criminal investigation into a plot to attack the UFC fight event this weekend with drones, according to three people familiar with the incident.”

Dilanian explained that the USSS and the FBI worked together on the investigation, “and had discussed unsealing the case and making an announcement later that day.”

“The problem with Patel’s social media announcement, the sources say, was the case had been sealed in court and roughly ten suspects had not yet been arrested and placed in custody at the time Patel made his public social media post,” Dilanian wrote.

Meanwhile, in a joint statement to CNN, the FBI and USSS said: “The FBI and US Secret Service are proud of our strong working relationship. This investigation highlights that continuous partnership and could not have happened without the great work and coordination between our two agencies.”