The hits keep coming for the beer-guzzling director of the FBI.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper tore into Kash Patel for partying with Olympians on taxpayers’ dime and refusing to back down from criticism of his behavior on what the FBI previously said was a work trip.
Social media has been abuzz with clips of Patel, 45, chugging beer and singing his heart out with Team USA after they defeated Team Canada in the highly anticipated men’s hockey final of the Winter Olympics in Italy.
“Believe it or not, that’s your FBI Director Kash Patel,” Tapper, 56, said on a Monday broadcast of CNN’s The Lead. “It was an incredible win that all Americans can celebrate. Now, why exactly the FBI director—who you might think would be busy with all sorts of things—why he’s in the locker room in Italy, seemingly pounding beers along with the team? Well, you can be forgiven if you’re asking that question.”
Ben Williamson, the FBI Assistant Director for Public Affairs, has repeatedly defended Patel and lashed out at the media over reports indicating that he used an agency jet to fly to Italy for the Winter Olympics. The Government Accountability Office estimates that flying the FBI’s private jet costs at least $5,000 per hour.
“No, it’s not a personal trip,” Williamson wrote in an X post last week responding to a CBS News report. “Director Patel is on a trip that was planned months ago. It includes: partner meetings with Italian law enforcement and security officials (they invited the Director last July), meeting with Ambassador Fertitta (as a follow up to our law enforcement roundtable he hosted in January), meetings with Legat staff, and more.”
Tapper also played a 2023 clip of Patel mocking his predecessor, Christopher A. Wray, for using the agency’s planes, arguing that “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.”
Patel was unfazed as he addressed the controversy himself on X.
“For the very concerned media - yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys,” Patel wrote on Sunday just before 2 a.m. local time. “Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth. 👊🏼🏒”
But Tapper says Patel’s patriotism isn’t at the heart of the issue.
“Of course, the issue is not whether or not Kash Patel loves America,” he said. “It’s about his judgment and whether or not he’s embarrassing the Bureau, and the perks he grabs and the seriousness with which he treats his job.”
“And one would think the FBI is pretty busy these days, with lots of things going on,” he added.
The FBI director drew flak from social media users on both sides of the aisle, with several people pointing out that he was out partying after a man was killed by Secret Service agents after breaching President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, and amid the ongoing search for missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie.
“I just can’t imagine being somebody in, let’s say, a missing person’s case, thinking that the FBI could be doing a better job, should be doing a better job, and looking up and seeing that image—just shocking,” Tapper said.
The FBI did not immediately return a request for comment on the CNN anchor’s remarks. Tapper said the agency directed the network to Patel’s social media post.
