New whistleblower allegations shared with Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.) prompted the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to accuse FBI Director Kash Patel of “irresponsible joyriding” on the bureau’s jet, which Durbin said had compromised high stakes investigations.
The new allegations, sent to supplement an existing review Durbin requested of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the inspector general at the Justice Department, come as Patel is under fire for going to Italy, where he was seen both attending meetings and celebrating with the U.S. national hockey team in the wake of the Olympic gold-medal victory.
“The Director’s personal leisure activities and travel bucket list should not dictate work travel, nor should it have a material impact on the Bureau’s time-sensitive operations and investigations,” Durbin wrote.
“Unfortunately, as a credible source described to my staff, the tone was set early during Director Patel’s tenure when he said in a meeting with the field offices last year, ‘If you have golf, hockey, fishing, or hunting and beautiful sights, you’re going to see a lot of me.’”
Durbin said additional whistleblower disclosures indicate the “Director’s decisions related to DOJ or FBI-controlled aircraft have negatively impacted high-profile criminal investigations.”
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