By Evan Perez, CNN
(CNN) — Top officials at FBI headquarters were tracking the outbreak of violence in Mexico on Sunday after its military killed a drug cartel boss when social media erupted with viral images of Director Kash Patel chugging beer in the locker room celebration of the Olympic gold medal-winning US men’s hockey team.
The FBI for days fought off criticism of the hockey-loving Patel’s trip on the agency plane to Italy for what the bureau said was long-planned official business, which coincided with the medal round of play for Team USA.
Much of the criticism centers on Patel’s use of an FBI Gulfstream jet for personal travel since taking office. It’s a criticism that has also dogged previous FBI directors, and earlier, attorneys general. And Patel himself, before becoming FBI director, criticized the use of the FBI plane by his predecessor Christopher Wray, suggesting it should be grounded.
“Chris Wray doesn’t need a government-funded G-5 jet to go to vacation,” Patel said when appearing on Glenn Beck’s podcast in 2024. “Maybe we ground that plane — $15,000 every time it takes off.
But just like it wasn’t up to Wray then, Patel doesn’t have a choice in how he travels.
A post 9/11 government regulation requires the attorney general, and since 2011, the FBI director, to use government aircraft for all travel, including personal trips. The reason for the policy, according to the Justice Department, is that the president and other top officials must always have secure communications available with the FBI director and attorney general, in case of national security or other emergencies.
Since becoming director a year ago, Patel’s trips to Nashville and other locations to visit his girlfriend, a golfing destination with friends and to attend hockey games have prompted criticism from Democrats who have demanded the FBI provide information about the use of resources.
“Mr. Patel, these planes are not yours. They are the property of the U.S. Government and are paid for by the American people,” Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin and California Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, wrote in a letter to Patel in December.
Patel and the FBI have defended the use of FBI aircraft, saying that he is complying with federal law that requires reimbursing the government the cost of commercial airline tickets for his personal travel. Critics note that the cost of operating the FBI aircraft costs tens of thousands of dollars, far exceeding a commercial ticket reimbursement.
For his visit to Italy for the Olympics last week, the FBI disputed a CBS News report that Patel was traveling to cheer on the men’s hockey team and cited numerous meetings he was scheduled to have.
A person briefed on the trip told CNN said the visit to Italy included law enforcement meetings and official agreement signings, and had been long planned, well before the US hockey team had made it to the final round of competition.
In past years, the FBI has dispatched agents to observe Olympics security preparations. Recent FBI directors haven’t personally traveled for those preparations.
Still, when Patel surfaced at the men’s hockey final, there was little surprise. Patel has played hockey for years and is known to be a fan. He turned up with hockey great Wayne Gretzky for games where Washingt