Kash Patel defends Olympic locker-room celebration as critics press on travel and jet use
FBI Director kash patel has defended his trip to the Winter Olympics in Italy after footage of him celebrating with the USA hockey team in a Milan locker room drew online criticism, a development that arrived while the FBI was tied to multiple high-profile matters at home.
Kash Patel defends locker-room celebration in Milan
In a post on X, Patel told "very concerned media" he was "extremely humbled" to be with the men's team after their victory over Canada in Milan, and footage showed the FBI chief drinking a beer and cheering with the players in a locker room on Sunday.
Patel wrote on social media on Sunday: "Yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys- Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth. "
Posts on X and simultaneous FBI duties
Shortly before the celebration, Patel had posted on X that the FBI was "dedicating all necessary resources" to investigating how an armed man tried to enter President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida; Secret Service agents fatally shot the alleged intruder.
The trip came during a busy time for the US Department of Justice, under which the FBI is the main investigative agency, and the FBI is also helping in the search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie, who has been missing for more than three weeks.
Public flight data and agency response
Public flight data showed Patel took a government plane last Thursday from Joint Base Andrews near Washington DC to a US Air Force base in Italy, and the FBI last week denied Patel was on a personal trip, saying it was planned months ago.
it had a major role in Olympic security and that Patel was meeting Italian law enforcement officials and the US ambassador to Italy.
Officials' warnings and congressional critics
The US Department of State issued a shelter-in-place warning on Sunday for American citizens in parts of Mexico because of unrest after local authorities killed a drug cartel leader, a separate development noted during Patel's trip.
Congressman Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, described Patel's Olympic trip as "grift and corruption, " posting: "Your taxpayer dollars funding the FBI director's Italian vacation. " Xochitl Hinojosa, a former justice department spokeswoman under President Biden, posted on X that "our FBI Director thinks he's a frat bro. "
Past scrutiny over FBI jet use and ongoing investigations
Patel himself has previously come under scrutiny for his use of FBI jets. Last November, he reportedly used the FBI's plane to fly to Pennsylvania and see his country music star girlfriend Alexis Wilkins perform.
Congressional Democrats said in December they were investigating reports that Patel flew on an FBI jet to a hunting resort in Texas and a golfing trip in Scotland, and Patel once criticised his predecessor Christopher Wray for using the agency's jet for personal travel.
Officials and critics remain engaged: the FBI maintained that Patel's trip was planned and tied to Olympic security, while congressional inquiries into his use of government aircraft continued as a confirmed matter from December.
