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FBI Director Kash Patel, who was sworn into the role on Feb. 21, is facing scrutiny for allegedly using government aircraft to attend sporting events and visit his girlfriend.
Flights in question
Patel used Department of Justice aircraft for multiple high-profile appearances, including flying on Air Force One to Miami for a UFC event with President Donald Trump on April 12, according to The New York Times. He also attended two NHL games earlier this month: one in Washington on April 4 and another in Long Island on April 6. It’s unclear whether Patel used government aircraft to watch these events, but a Boeing 757 owned by the DOJ landed at JFK Airport shortly before the April 6 game and departed soon after it ended.
The Times also reported three round-trip flights on a DOJ-owned Gulfstream to Nashville, where Patel’s girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, resides. While at least one Nashville trip included an official FBI business meeting with Tennessee senators and local law enforcement, the purpose of the others remains unclear.
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Criticism
FBI directors are required under executive branch policy to use government aircraft for all travel to maintain access to secure communications. When traveling for personal reasons, however, they must reimburse the government the equivalent price of a commercial ticket — significantly less than the actual cost of operating such high-end jets.
The FBI has not commented on Patel’s travel arrangements. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, called for an investigation into Patel’s “apparent misuse” of taxpayer money in a statement to CBS News. Christopher O’Leary, a former FBI senior counterterrorism official, also criticized Patel’s use of the planes, calling it “a bad leadership example.”
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Controversial tenure
Patel’s approach marks a stark contrast to his predecessors, who typically worked with minimal publicity. Beyond his travel habits, Patel has made controversial personnel changes, including suspending analyst Brian Auten, whom he previously named as a “deep state” actor in his book “Government Gangsters.” In late February, Patel was quietly removed as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll appointed as his replacement.
Despite these controversies, Patel recently celebrated the FBI’s recent arrest of Harpreet Singh, an alleged Babbar Khalsa International operative who entered the U.S. illegally and is linked to multiple terror attacks in Punjab, India. “Justice will be done,” Patel wrote on X.
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The FBI has reportedly requested information about purchasing another jet for “required-use executive travel,” even as Republican senators who once criticized similar travel by previous directors remain silent about Patel’s usage.
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