General Discussion

FBI Director Kash Patel is once again under fire for his use of official FBI resources for travel as he appeared alongside gold medal-winning members of Team USA hockey on Sunday at the Olympics in Milano Cortina.

The FBI chief has was previously accused of using federal government resources to take “extravagant” trips with his girlfriend, allegedly earning him the derisive nickname “Make-a-Wish Director” behind closed doors.

But on Sunday he posted photos of himself grinning alongside members of the men’s hockey team mere hours after a spokesperson for his agency blasted the mere suggestion that Patel had used government resources for a personal vacation.

He was also captured celebrating in the locker room on team member Dylan Larkin’s Instagram Live.

It’s an awkward look for the director, whose agency is already battling perceptions that he is unqualified for the job and unserious with his management of the agency and use of its resources.......

Last year, Patel was accused of using a government Gulfstream jet for personal use to fly around and see his girlfriend, country music singer Alexis Wilkins

Just two years earlier, Patel — then a podcaster and right-wing influencer — had complained that FBI Director Chris Wray was benefitting from "private jet travel that he pays for with taxpayer dollars to hop around the country.”

Now it’s Patel facing that same accusation and claiming that he uses the plane less than his predecessors, while defending their usage for personal trips. Among the reported excursions, Patel has used the jet for a golfing trip in Scotland as well as to go hunting in Texas, along with “date nights” with Wilkins.