MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” issued a retraction Monday after airing an unverified and ultimately false claim by former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi about FBI Director Kash Patel.

The correction follows three days of widespread media repetition of Figliuzzi’s allegation that Patel was spending more time at nightclubs than managing the bureau.

The claim, made during Friday’s broadcast of “Morning Joe,” alleged that Patel was “more visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building.”

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Figliuzzi, who served as assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division from 2011 to 2012 and now works as an NBC News analyst, did not provide any supporting evidence for the statement.

Figliuzzi also claimed that Patel’s daily intelligence briefings had been reduced from daily to “maybe twice weekly,” again citing unnamed sources and offering no documentation.

Those remarks quickly circulated across digital news platforms and social media.

Outlets such as the Daily Mail, Daily Beast, and MSN repeated the claims without independent verification.

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By Monday morning, MSNBC was forced to walk back the segment.

Host Jonathan Lemire acknowledged the network had no evidence to support the statements aired.

“And now, let’s circle back to a segment from Friday’s show. Frank Figliuzzi was on that morning during this hour, discussing the work of administration officials,” Lemire said.

“At the end of that segment, Figliuzzi said that FBI director Kash Patel has reportedly been more visible at nightclubs than at his office at FBI headquarters. This was a misstatement. We have not verified that claim.”

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The segment immediately cut to commercial after Lemire’s brief statement.

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The FBI’s Assistant Director for Public Affairs, Ben Williamson, issued a response on social media, writing on X, “RIP Kash Patel nightclub theories, May 2, 2025 — May 5, 2025. Cool.”

The incident adds to a pattern of controversial and often unsubstantiated commentary from Figliuzzi during his time as an NBC analyst.

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Over the years, he has attracted criticism for making extreme claims, including suggesting in 2019 that then-President Donald Trump was signaling white supremacists by lowering flags to half-staff on August 8—interpreting the date 8/8 as symbolic of “Heil Hitler.”

Figliuzzi has also drawn backlash for proposing that certain Republican lawmakers be preemptively arrested to prevent future protests, and for comparing Trump’s rhetoric to that of radical clerics inciting jihadist violence.

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Despite the repeated controversies, Figliuzzi has remained a regular contributor on MSNBC and NBC News programs.

Patel, who was appointed FBI Director by President Donald Trump, has not issued a personal statement in response to the claims but has remained active in overseeing internal reforms and national security priorities.

The FBI has not commented beyond Williamson’s public post.

The retraction from MSNBC comes at a time of increased scrutiny over media accuracy, especially in high-stakes political and national security reporting.

The incident has renewed calls among critics for networks to exercise greater editorial control over guest commentary—particularly when accusations are made without factual support.

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