Kash Patel’s ‘From Russia, with Love’ post sparks controversy, FBI responds

FBI Director Kash Patel has once again mired in controversy over a post in which he expressed his admiration for Russia in the midst of the Ukraine war.

The controversy stemmed from Patel’s post posted on X, “From Russia, With Love.” The context of the post is that: Patel mocked MS NOW on Wednesday following a retracted report claiming he had travelled to Russia.

After the FBI denied the story and the network issued an on-air correction, Patel posted "From Russia, with Love…" on social media to highlight the blunder.

Later the FBI also confirmed that Kash Patel was in Virginia for a law enforcement-related event instead of travelling to Moscow.

Video from an ABC News affiliate in Virginia also showed Patel at an event in Lynchburg on Wednesday.

Since the denial of these reports, the damage was done, sparking a controversy. Critics like Chef José Andrés called it tone-deaf and shameful while civilians faced nightly attacks, pairing replies with images of destruction and raising questions about Patel's past $25,000 payment from a Kremlin-linked firm.

One user also slammed, “Russia continues to bomb Ukraine and kill civilians every night. Meanwhile, the FBI director is in Russia tweeting ‘From Russia, with Love’. Absolutely disgraceful.”

Some users also criticized Patel for his insensitive behavior and asked him to resign.

Another one commented, “The masks are coming off. They are all Putin’s puppets.”

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, also responded to the post, “US-Russia law enforcement dialogue will benefit the world just as economic and energy cooperation will. So this may become a real message soon.”

However, supporters saw it as a troll against false trip reports.