FBI Director Kash Patel is going through backlash for reportedly utilizing an FBI jet to move to Italy the place he spent the ultimate days of the Winter Olympics watching hockey and, later, celebrating Staff USA’s gold medal win over Canada on Sunday.
Patel, a hockey fan since his childhood, was spotted on the U.S. males’s semifinal recreation in opposition to Slovakia, and later on the last, the place he was seen celebrating with Staff USA middle Dylan Larkin within the locker room after America’s extra time win.
“Congratulations Staff USA,” Patel appeared to say whereas making a shaka signal along with his hand throughout Larkin’s post-game Instagram Reside feed, per a clip shared by MS NOW’s Ken Dilanian.
A separate video, shared by ProPublica’s William Turton, seems to indicate Patel chugging a beer bottle earlier than he throws his fingers within the air and kilos a desk along with his fist.
Staff USA’s Matthew Tkachuk is then seen draping his medal round Patel’s neck earlier than he joins the successful hockey gamers in a sing-along to Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Crimson, White, and Blue.”
Another clip depicts Patel sipping a special beer as President Donald Trump, overheard on a telephone held by the FBI director, means that Patel may also help organize to fly the group out to attend his State of the Union tackle and, later, for a go to on the White Home.
“I obtained it, boss, I obtained it,” replied Patel in a slurred voice. “I’m on it, I’m fucking on it.”
On Sunday, he took to social media to comment on Staff USA’s golden accomplishment. The conspiracy-pushing FBI director additionally shared snaps from the post-game celebration, together with one which reveals him cracking a smile alongside coach Mike Sullivan.
Patel, whose partying occurred on the identical day that an armed man was shot and killed after coming into the safe perimeter round Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property, later addressed the “very involved media” over the clips.
“Sure, I really like America and was extraordinarily humbled when my pals, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Staff USA, invited me into the locker room to rejoice this historic second with the boys- Best nation on earth and best sport on earth. 👊🏼🏒🇺🇸,” he wrote.
Critics on social media swiftly slammed Patel over the journey, with some resurfacing his old comments knocking then-FBI Director Chris Wray for utilizing a government-funded jet to “go on trip.”
A variety of customers additionally pointed to the Justice Division’s controversial, slow-drip launch of the Jeffrey Epstein recordsdata.
“Are the Epstein recordsdata there?” X person Gerald Celente questioned.
One other person, Hannah Cox, reacted to Patel’s Instagram Reside selfie with Larkin, simply writing, “In the meantime, fixing no intercourse crimes thoughts you.”
“Why is Kash Patel within the locker room?” asked @AmanitaFugax on X. “They don’t even attempt to cover their corruption and self enrichment anymore. This man is a podcasting grifter. He shouldn’t be wherever close to public service.”
On Thursday, Patel headed to the Milan Cortina Video games on the FBI’s Gulfstream jet, sources instructed MS NOW’s Dilanian and Carol Leonnig. The report estimated that Patel’s journey to Milan price taxpayers as a lot as $75,000.
FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson confirmed the journey however argued it was not “private” in nature, claiming it was deliberate months prematurely, and Patel was there to satisfy with Italian officers for conferences and briefings associated to authorities duties.
Williamson went on to defend the journey by claiming that the FBI performs a “main position” in safety for the Video games in addition to the World Cup, which is ready to go down this summer season within the States.
“So we have now a U.S. consulate briefing on Olympic safety and present FBI posture, in addition to thanking FBI personnel on the bottom,” he wrote.
Patel has beforehand come under fire for utilizing an FBI jet to go see his girlfriend, nation singer Alexis Wilkins, carry out at a wrestling occasion in Pennsylvania final yr.
He later defended the move, arguing that he’s not allowed to fly industrial and declaring that his accomplice is “a rock-solid conservative and a rustic music sensation who has achieved extra for this nation than most will in ten lifetimes.”
Patel is the primary recognized energetic FBI director to make an Olympic-related journey since Robert Mueller did so in 2003, though that journey occurred a number of months previous to the beginning of the 2004 Athens Video games, MSNBC famous.
