Candace Owens accused the FBI of rejecting a FOIA request seeking Kash Patel's travel records for September 2025. The FBI has now responded to the allegations. Podcaster Candace Owens and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) became embroiled in a public dispute on Monday after Owens claimed the agency effectively rejected her Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking FBI Director Kash Patel's travel records from September 7-10, 2025. Candace Owens accused the FBI of refusing a FOIA request seeking Kash Patel's travel records for September 2025. The FBI responded publicly, denying her claims. (Facebook/Candace Owens)Owens wrote on X that she had formally requested Kash Patel's travel itinerary for the three days preceding the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. She claimed the FBI responded by saying the “burden of the request was too great.”However, the FBI publicly disputed that characterization. They accused Owens of mischaracterizing its response and shared the acknowledgement letter on X. Read more: Candace Owens' answer to whether she's ‘done’ with Trump goes viral: ‘I feel embarrassed…’What is the dispute about?In an X post, Owens wrote, “Via FOIA, we formally requested Kash Patel's travel itinerary for the 3 days leading up to Charlie Kirk's assassination and we just heard back and were told the burden of the request is too great.”In a response posted on X, the FBI shared images of a June 12, 2026, acknowledgement letter to Owens' FOIA Request. The letter stated that "unusual circumstances" apply to processing the request under federal FOIA law and did not comply with Owens' request.“These 'unusual circumstances' will delay our ability to make a determination on your request within 20 days,” the letter read. The FBI's social media account challenged Owens directly."Please show us on the document sent to you acknowledging your FOIA request where we said: 'The burden of the request is too great,'" the bureau wrote. "Your show just like the fake news media will be called out when you lie!"Read more: Candace Owens takes aim at Laura Loomer's ‘fake husband’ Andrew Simpson amid bitter feud: 'Are you paying for…?Social media users weigh inThe exchange sparked widespread online discussion. Many X users were not satisfied with the FBI's response to Owens and said that informing a requester of substantial delays amounted to an incapacity to rapidly fulfill the request. One account, Green Dragon HQ, responded by highlighting the section of the letter discussing delayed processing. “Right there. Where you said you could not accommodate her request within the legally required time frame,” the account wrote. Another user on X wrote, "You literally said it will take longer than 20 days unless you want to limit the scope aka the "burden is too great." Absolutely f*cking wild this is what you chose to respond to."Another user said that the FBI is "not a serious organisation" and wrote, "Whoever runs this gov propaganda account thinks "unusual circumstances" vs "burdensome" is an own. Semantics. This is not a serious organization."Shirin Gupta is a content producer with the Hindustan Times. She covers everything between politics, entertainment and sports at the US desk. Shirin got interested in political journalism during her time as a web editor at her college newspaper NCC News in Syracuse when she first started seeing the effects of national politics in life of her fellow colleagues.
Shirin has worked on a wide range of fast-moving and developing stories locally when she was at NCC editing accessible reports for the audience.
Her current role requires her to track real-time updates, verify information and present balanced coverage across diverse beats. Covering US politics from an international newsroom perspective has further deepened her understanding of how domestic decisions can have far-reaching global consequences.
With a keen interest in international affairs, Shirin continues to build her expertise in geopolitics, policy shifts, and cross-border developments. She aims to learn and evolve her reporting in matters of geopolitics and international issues.
Outside the newsroom Shirin writes about books and music for her personal blog. She is an avid consumer of pop culture and reveres literature. Read More