JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
FBI Director Kash Patel has been in the job for one year now. And in that year, he's come under scrutiny for his firing of senior FBI agents, for his social media posts about ongoing investigations and for trips he's made on a government jet. And that includes a recent trip to Italy that overlapped with the Milan Winter Olympics. NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas has been following this and joins us. Hi.
RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: Hi there.
SUMMERS: So, Ryan, I want to start with Kash Patel's trip to Milan. I think a lot of people have seen that video of him partying with the U.S. men's hockey team. Is that why this is getting so much attention?
LUCAS: Short answer, yeah, that is certainly a lot of it. Look, FBI directors are traditionally very serious, buttoned-up professionals. Robert Mueller is one example. You know, they wear suits and a tie. They carry the FBI and its huge responsibilities on their shoulders. We're talking terrorism investigations, fighting drug cartels, catching foreign spies trying to steal America's secrets.
And then juxtapose that with the video of Patel in Milan celebrating with the U.S. men's hockey team in the locker room after the gold medal win over Canada. And in that video, Patel is chugging a bottle of beer. He sprays some in the air. He pumps his fists, bangs on a table. He jumps around and sings with the team. Here's a bit of what that sounded like.
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UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Singing) Hey, Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list.
LUCAS: And so this episode has certainly added to concerns, including among current and former FBI officials, about Patel's temperament and his fitness for this big, important job.
SUMMERS: What has Patel had to say about the criticism over this video?
LUCAS: He's tried to brush it off. He said in a post on X that he loves America and was humbled to celebrate with Team USA.
SUMMERS: Were there any business or legitimate reasons for Patel's trip to Milan?
LUCAS: According to the FBI, yes. It said Patel's trip to Italy was not personal. It was business. Patel did post photos on X of some of his meetings in Italy, including with the U.S. ambassador. But I've heard from a couple of former FBI agents who view those business meetings as window dressing for what appears to be, in their view, really a personal trip. And this matters because the FBI director is required to fly on a U.S. government jet because of the secure communication systems. So this - the public here is footing the bill for his travel.
And look, this isn't the first time Patel has come under fire over his travel as FBI director. There's a reported hunting trip to Texas. Another is a flight to Pennsylvania to watch his country music singer girlfriend perform at a wrestling event. Patel has defended those trips. But then, with Italy, Patel's trip just so happened to overlap with the Milan Olympics. Patel is a huge hockey fan. He was in the stands for the gold medal game between the U.S. and Canada. Patel's critics are also quick to point out that Patel himself criticized his predecessor, Chris Wray, over his use of a government jet. Here's Patel speaking Glenn Beck a few years ago.
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KASH PATEL: I'm just saying Chris Wray doesn't need a government-funded G5 jet to go to vacation. Maybe we ground that plane - 15,000 every time it takes off. Just a thought.
SUMMERS: Now, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee says he has evidence that Patel's past travel has actually hampered FBI investigations. What can you tell us about that?
LUCAS: Right. This is Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin. He said in a letter to the Government Accountability Office yesterday that whistleblowers have come forward with information that Patel's decisions about the use of FBI planes have hampered a couple of high-profile investigations. One instance, according to Durbin, an FBI team was delayed at least a day getting to Utah after conservative activist Charlie Kirk's assassination there because of a plane and pilot shortage caused, Durbin says, by Patel's personal flights.
Durbin also says a team of FBI investigators was unable to fly to Rhode Island after the shooting at Brown University because of Patel's decisions about planes. Now, FBI spokesman Ben Williamson has rejected both of those allegations. On Brown University specifically, Williamson said on X that Patel was in Florida visiting his parents at the time but that there was no issue with aircraft being unavailable. Needless to say, though, this issue, this travel issue for Patel is not going away.
SUMMERS: NPR's Ryan Lucas. Thanks, as always.
LUCAS: Thank you.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
And we'll add that after this conversation, the White House responded to our request for comment, praising Kash Patel and his work implementing President Trump's agenda to lower crime. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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