FBI Director Kash Patel Celebrates With U.S. Hockey Team in Milan
Videos show FBI Director Kash Patel drinking beer and wearing a player’s gold medal in a Milan locker room, prompting scrutiny over his use of a government plane.
Overview
Videos from Milan show FBI Director Kash Patel drinking beer, spraying it in the locker room and wearing a player’s gold medal after the U.S. men’s hockey team’s Olympic victory on Sunday.
The appearance drew scrutiny because it coincided with FBI probes into the Mar-a-Lago intrusion that left a man dead and the weekslong search for Nancy Guthrie, and because Patel has faced questions about his government travel.
Democratic Rep. Jason Crow called the trip "grift & corruption," former DOJ spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa called Patel a "frat bro," and FBI spokesman Ben Williamson and White House communications director Steven Cheung defended his meetings and security role.
One report estimated Patel’s Milan flight on an FBI Gulfstream could have cost taxpayers as much as $75,000, and congressional Democrats have probed earlier flights to Pennsylvania, a Texas hunting resort and Scotland.
Patel posted that he met Italian law enforcement and the U.S. ambassador at Milan’s Joint Operations Center, said he was "extremely humbled" to be invited into the locker room, and the FBI said the trip was planned months earlier.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame Patel’s appearance as part of a broader narrative of scrutiny and alleged hypocrisy, emphasizing loaded descriptors (e.g., “embattled,” “bombastic”), selective examples (wrestling trip, prior criticism of Wray), and contextual history (inspector general findings, 1993 firing) while still including defensive quotes.
Sources (10)
![FBI Director Kash Patel Parties In Locker Room With The USA Men's Hockey Team And Dons Gold Medal [VIDEO] - Joe.My.God.](https://www.joemygod.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/patty5.jpg)
FAQ
FBI directors are mandated by Congress to travel on government aircraft for both official and personal trips to ensure they maintain access to secure communications and can respond quickly in emergencies.[2][4] Directors are also required to reimburse the government for personal flights at coach fare rates.[3]
Government accounts estimate the FBI Gulfstream costs at least $5,000 per flight hour, making Patel's Milan trip likely to cost as much as $75,000.[1] This is notable because in 2023, Patel criticized FBI Director Chris Wray's use of a government-funded G5 jet for vacations, suggesting it cost $15,000 every time it took off.[1]
Congressional Democrats have probed Patel's use of government jets for personal excursions including a sporting event in Pennsylvania where his girlfriend was performing, a date night in Tennessee, a hunting resort in Texas known as "Boondoggle Ranch," and a golf resort in Scotland.[3] Democrats also questioned his removal of the FBI plane from open-source flight tracker FlightAware.[3]
FBI spokesman Ben Williamson stated the trip was planned months ago and includes official partner meetings with Italian law enforcement and security officials, a meeting with the U.S. Ambassador, and managing the FBI's major role in Olympic security.[2][4] Williamson also noted that the FBI has taken steps to reduce travel costs, such as using government airfields instead of commercial airports, which are about 2.5 times cheaper.[3]
Democrats have called the trip "grift and corruption," with Rep. Jason Crow using that language.[1] In December, Rep. Jamie Raskin and Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove wrote that Patel "has come to embody the corruption the American people despise," and the DNC Rapid Response Director stated Patel should either return to work and stop wasting taxpayer dollars or resign.
History
4 sources