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LOADINGERROR LOADING Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem reportedly authorized the purchase of 10 Spirit Airlines planes before she realized that the airlines didn’t own the planes. Also, none of the planes came with engines. The detail comes from a new report in The Wall Street Journal on Friday about the infighting between members of President Donald Trump’s administration over how to increase deportations of immigrants. Advertisement Noem, along with Department of Homeland Security adviser Corey Lewandowski, had recently planned to buy 10 Boeing 737 jets from the budget airline, Spirit Airlines. The plan was to use the jets to deport immigrants that have been snatched off the streets by masked agents under orders from Trump. Sources told the Journal that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials had already cautioned the two that buying the planes would be more expensive than just expanding existing flight contracts. And when officials looked at the proposal, they noticed that Spirit Airlines didn’t actually own the planes, and that none of the planes came with engines. Along with using the jets to carry out more deportations, the Journal reported that Noem had also intended to use the jets for personal travel. FBI Director Kash Patel has recently come under scrutiny for using a $60 million FBI jet to go see his girlfriend perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a wrestling event in Pennsylvania. Advertisement Patel defended his actions because his girlfriend is “a rock-solid conservative and a country music sensation who has done more for this nation than most will in ten lifetimes.” A DHS spokesperson told the Journal that some of its reporting about the attempted plane purchases was inaccurate, but didn’t provide specifics.
