The White House directly involved Kash Patel in the investigation into the NYT: The FBI director canceled a trip to oversee the case in person

The White House ordered FBI Director Kash Patel to oversee the investigation into the leak that led to a New York Times report on security flaws in the new Air Force One, according to the newspaper itself, citing people familiar with the matter. This came to light hours after news broke that court summonses had been issued against journalists from the publication.

Patel canceled a trip to Chicago and spent nearly eight hours at the White House on Friday, from where he directed the investigation rather than from FBI headquarters, a move the NYT described as an unusual departure from standard practice. Two anonymous sources told the newspaper that Patel also briefed senior officials on the status of the investigation.

According to the report, the White House came after Trump expressed outrage over coverage of the plane, donated by Qatar, which the NYT described as lacking some of the defensive countermeasures found on the previous model. Trump had flown on the new plane to a NATO meeting in Turkey, but had to return on the previous plane due to concerns raised by the Secret Service.

When asked by the NYT, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said, “President Trump is laser focused on helping the American people and keeping them safe.” Emily Covington of the Department of Justice downplayed the unusual nature of the subpoenas, some of which were delivered Friday night to the journalists’ homes: “Every administration has addressed the crime of leaking national security information... reporters are not the targets. Those leaking classified information are.”

An FBI spokesperson, Ben Williamson, stated that Patel and White House officials met only to “brief an ongoing matter... other speculative reporting regarding the nature of the meeting is absolutely false.”

According to people cited by the NYT, Patel had concerns about the information disclosed about the plane, although another source said he decided to oversee the case. The newspaper noted that Trump pushed for the rapid retrofitting of the Qatari jet after learning that the aircraft intended to replace the current ones would face years of delays, and that although the president insists it cost the country nothing, hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on enhancing its security, without matching the anti-missile capabilities of the previous model.

The NYT also reported that, prior to the article’s first publication, a high-ranking FBI official asked to hold off on the article for alleged national security reasons and requested the newspaper’s sources, a request the newspaper refused. After leaving the White House on Friday, Patel wrote on social media that “the fake news will find out why soon.” That night, journalists received subpoenas to testify on July 15.

The newspaper noted that the case breaks with standard procedure in investigations into leaks, which historically reserve subpoenas for journalists as a last resort. The subpoenas were requested by Jay Clayton, the Manhattan district attorney nominated by Trump to head National Intelligence, whose Senate confirmation hearing coincides with the date set for the journalists’ testimony.