FBI Director Kash Patel is facing backlash for reportedly using an FBI jet to head to Italy where he spent the final days of the Winter Olympics watching hockey and, later, celebrating Team USA’s gold medal win over Canada on Sunday.
Patel, a hockey fan since his childhood, was spotted at the U.S. men’s semifinal game against Slovakia, and later at the final, where he was seen celebrating with Team USA center Dylan Larkin in the locker room after America’s overtime win.
“Congratulations Team USA,” Patel appeared to say while making a shaka sign with his hand during Larkin’s post-game Instagram Live feed, per a clip shared by MS NOW’s Ken Dilanian.
A separate video, shared by ProPublica’s William Turton, appears to show Patel chugging a beer bottle before he throws his hands in the air and pounds a table with his fist.
Team USA’s Matthew Tkachuk is then seen draping his medal around Patel’s neck before he joins the winning hockey players in a sing-along to Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue.”
Another clip depicts Patel sipping a different beer as President Donald Trump, overheard on a phone held by the FBI director, suggests that Patel can help arrange to fly the team out to attend his State of the Union address and, later, for a visit at the White House.
“I got it, boss, I got it,” replied Patel in a slurred voice. “I’m on it, I’m fucking on it.”
On Sunday, he took to social media to remark on Team USA’s golden accomplishment. The conspiracy-pushing FBI director also shared snaps from the post-game celebration, including one that shows him cracking a smile alongside coach Mike Sullivan.
Patel, whose partying occurred on the same day that an armed man was shot and killed after entering the secure perimeter around Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, later addressed the “very concerned media” over the clips.
“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. 👊🏼🏒🇺🇸,” he wrote.
Critics on social media swiftly slammed Patel over the trip, with some resurfacing his old comments knocking then-FBI Director Chris Wray for using a government-funded jet to “go on vacation.”
A number of users also pointed to the Justice Department’s controversial, slow-drip release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
“Are the Epstein files there?” X user Gerald Celente questioned.
Another user, Hannah Cox, reacted to Patel’s Instagram Live selfie with Larkin, simply writing, “Meanwhile, solving no sex crimes mind you.”
“Why is Kash Patel in the locker room?” asked @AmanitaFugax on X. “They don’t even try to hide their corruption and self enrichment anymore. This guy is a podcasting grifter. He should not be anywhere near public service.”
On Thursday, Patel headed to the Milan Cortina Games on the FBI’s Gulfstream jet, sources told MS NOW’s Dilanian and Carol Leonnig. The report estimated that Patel’s trip to Milan cost taxpayers as much as $75,000.
FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson confirmed the trip but argued it was not “personal” in nature, claiming it was planned months in advance, and Patel was there to meet with Italian officials for meetings and briefings related to government duties.
Williamson went on to defend the trip by claiming that the FBI plays a “major role” in security for the Games as well as the World Cup, which is set to go down this summer in the States.
“So we have a U.S. consulate briefing on Olympic security and current FBI posture, as well as thanking FBI personnel on the ground,” he wrote.
Patel has previously come under fire for using an FBI jet to go see his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, perform at a wrestling event in Pennsylvania last year.
He later defended the move, arguing that he’s not allowed to fly commercial and declaring that his partner is “a rock-solid conservative and a country music sensation who has done more for this nation than most will in ten lifetimes.”
Patel is the first known active FBI director to make an Olympic-related trip since Robert Mueller did so in 2003, although that trip occurred several months prior to the start of the 2004 Athens Games, MSNBC noted.
