FBI’s Indian-origin director Kash Patel has come under fire for allegedly making personal trips on government aircraft and some Senate Democrats have asked the US Government Accountability Office to review this data. The CBS reported that if the review takes place, then Parel’s flight records will be looked into to determine the purpose of his travel, the money spent and whether Patel reimbursed the government for personal trips.
Trips to attend sports events, meet girlfriend
In April, the FBI director made many appearances which could be matched with the trip details to find out whether he took his FBI jet and whether he reimbursed in case those were personal visits. On April 5, Kash Patel participated in a charity hockey game hosted by the FBI. The next day, his jet was back to JFK Airport and Patel was seen at a hockey match where Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin broke the NHL scoring record.
The reports claimed Patel made use of the FBI’s Gulfstream 5 jets to travel to Las Vegas, where he has a home, and to Nashville, where Patel’s girlfriend, a country singer Alexis Wilkins, lives. Several trips of Patel were captured by public flight trackers, ncluding a weekend jaunt to Las Vegas on March 7 and a weekend in Nashville on March 24.
FBI director can use government aircraft for personal travel
It is at the director’s discretion how often to use government aircraft for personal travel and for what specific purposes, the CBS report said. In 2013, the GAO last investigated the use of FBI planes for “non-mission” purposes and laid out a detailed accounting of how often the aircraft were being used by the director as well as the attorney general, who also has access to the planes.
Kash Patel spotted more at nightclubs
Frank Figliuzzi, a former FBI official, made an explosive claim that Patel is spending more time in nightclubs than in the office resulting in utter chaos in the FBI headquarters as no one is clued in about the day-to-day affairs and Kash Patel mostly works from his Las Vegas home.
