WASHINGTON (CN) — Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin on Tuesday urged Congress’ independent watchdog organization and the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate FBI Director Kash Patel’s use of government-owned aircraft, citing whistleblower reports that his use of agency jets hampered its response to several high-profile criminal cases.
Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, accused Patel of “irresponsible joyriding” on aircraft operated by the FBI and Justice Department that he said frustrated senior Trump administrative staff and amounted to “misuse or mismanagement of government resources.”
Patel has repeatedly come under scrutiny for reports that he used FBI aircraft for non-official travel, such as trips to a wrestling match at Penn State University and an excursion to a hunting resort in Texas. But the FBI director found himself under the microscope once again this week after images circulated online showing him celebrating with the U.S. men’s hockey team after their gold medal victory over Canada at the Winter Olympics in Italy.
And in his letter to the Justice Department’s acting inspector general and head of the Government Accountability Office, Durbin said that he’d received “credible” disclosures from a whistleblower which show that Patel’s decisions about the use of government aircraft damaged the FBI’s response to several high-profile criminal probes.
According to the whistleblower report submitted to Durbin’s staff, the FBI...
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