Kash Patel Defends Milan Visit After Locker-Room Celebration with USA Hockey
kash patel defended his trip to the Winter Olympics in Italy after footage showed him celebrating with the U. S. men's hockey team following their victory over Canada in Milan, a visit that drew scrutiny as the Justice Department handled multiple urgent matters back in the United States.
Kash Patel headed to Milan on the FBI jet
Three people familiar with his plans said Patel flew on the FBI's Gulfstream jet to Milan to watch men's ice hockey, with plans to attend the bronze-medal game on Saturday and the gold-medal game on Sunday. Public flight data show Patel took a government plane last Thursday from Joint Base Andrews near Washington DC to a U. S. Air Force base in Italy, and an FBI official confirmed he had official government business in Italy, including meetings and briefings.
Locker-room footage and the USA victory over Canada
Footage from Sunday showed the FBI director drinking a beer and cheering with players in the locker room after Team USA beat Canada; Patel told "very concerned media" he was "extremely humbled" to be with the men's team after that victory in Milan. He also posted on X 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. " The win marked the first U. S. Olympic men's ice hockey gold in 46 years.
Trip timing, other Justice Department work and public safety notices
Patel's trip came while the Department of Justice faced several pressing matters: the FBI said it was dedicating resources to investigate an incident in which an armed man tried to enter President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and was fatally shot by Secret Service agents, and the FBI is assisting in the search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie, who has been missing for more than three weeks. Separately, the U. S. Department of State issued a shelter-in-place warning on Sunday for U. S. citizens in parts of Mexico after local authorities killed a drug cartel leader.
Agency defenses, rules on travel and estimated cost
FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson tweeted late Thursday that Patel's trip was not personal and had been invited months ago. Williamson wrote that "The FBI also has a major role in Olympic security – as we do with the World Cup, F1, and more – so we have a U. S. consulate briefing on Olympic security and current FBI posture, as well as thanking FBI personnel on the ground. " An FBI official said the director is required to fly on the FBI jet to ensure rapid return to Washington in an emergency and to maintain secure communications during a crisis; the director is also required to reimburse taxpayers for personal travel up to the cost of a commercial flight, and the FBI official said Patel would reimburse any personal portion of his trip but emphasized he was going for government business. Government accounts estimate at least $5, 000 per flight hour for the Gulfstream, a figure the account said makes the Milan trip likely to cost as much as $75, 000.
Criticism, past scrutiny and historical precedent
Critics reacted quickly: Congressman Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, called the trip "grift and corruption" and posted on X: "Your taxpayer dollars funding the FBI director's Italian vacation, " while Xochitl Hinojosa, a former Justice Department spokeswoman under President Joe Biden, posted on X that "our FBI Director thinks he's a frat bro. " Patel has previously drawn scrutiny for his use of FBI jets; last November he reportedly used the FBI plane to fly to Pennsylvania to see his country music star girlfriend Alexis Wilkins perform. The last known FBI director visit tied to an Olympics site was in November 2003, when then-Director Robert Mueller traveled to Greece for a two-day visit eight months before the Summer Olympics to review security preparations.
Meetings in Italy and what comes next
The FBI said Patel was scheduled to meet Italian law enforcement officials and the U. S. ambassador to Italy and that the agency played a major role in Olympic security. The FBI also reiterated that the trip was planned months ago and not personal; Patel remains in Italy for those meetings and security briefings tied to the Olympic events in Milan.
