Kash Patel autographed glossy photos of himself at a joint training session between the FBI and the UFC, while the search for Nancy Guthrie enters its seventh week.
Patel, the embattled FBI director, handed out signed pictures during the event over the weekend at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, ProPublica reporter William Turton noted. The two-day training partnership, Patel announced last week, was “a tremendous opportunity for our FBI agents to learn and train with some of the greatest athletes on earth.”
A public LinkedIn post from James Swann of the U.S. Air Force showed Patel, 46, donning a black UFC hat and a UFC-FBI hoodie while sitting at a table with a Sharpie. On the table is at least one autographed, color photograph of himself. Swann is holding one of his own.
“Super cool dude, down to earth and didn’t rush anyone away,” Swann wrote of Patel in reply to another user’s comment.
In other photographs of the event that Swann shared, Patel is wearing what appear to be customized Nikes. According to Turton, the shoes, which have the same color scheme as his hat and hoodie, feature the number 9, which is a reference to him being the bureau’s ninth director. They also have the Punisher skull, an allusion to the vigilante Marvel Comics antihero who kills criminals, as well as Patel’s personal logo: “K$H.” The FBI’s motto, “Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity,” is on the heels.
Some commentators criticized Patel for signing pictures of himself while Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie, remains missing.
Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her Tucson, Arizona, home on Jan. 31. There are no named suspects.
Guthrie’s family is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to her being found. The FBI, meanwhile, is offering up to $100,000 for information leading to her recovery “and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.”
Last month, Patel also had to field questions about being seen on video celebrating and chugging beer with the U.S. men’s Olympic ice hockey team in the locker room after their gold-medal victory over Canada in Milan, Italy. Patel’s team defended his use of a taxpayer-funded plane to go overseas, claiming it was a work-related trip.
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
