Veterans are railing against the “disrespect” FBI Director Kash Patel displayed when he embarked on a snorkel trip at Pearl Harbor.
Patel went on a “VIP snorkel” last year around the U.S.S. Arizona, which serves as both a memorial and a grave for more than 900 Navy sailors and Marines killed at Pearl Harbor. Snorkeling excursions there are not available to the public.
William M. McBride, a Navy veteran and professor emeritus of history at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, told The New York Times that he thought Patel’s trip was “horrifying.”
“This is a war grave with the same legal status as Arlington National Cemetery,” McBride said. “Snorkeling around Arizona is as disrespectful as playing kickball on top of the graves at Arlington.”
The FBI did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment on the criticism.
Patel’s trip to Pearl Harbor came at the end of his trip to visit FBI facilities in Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand.
His underwater adventure, which the FBI did not previously disclose, will only add to scrutiny Patel is facing over his apparent habit of mixing business travel with leisure and his use of the FBI jet fleet.
“The badge is a responsibility, not a V.I.P. pass,” Rob D’Amico, a former F.B.I. special agent and hostage rescue team operator, told the Times.
“The pattern is clear — exotic locations, exclusive access that no member of the public could ever get, and a support staff working overtime to make it happen,” he added of Patel.
The report on his snorkel excursion comes as Patel has been swarmed with controversy after The Atlantic published a bombshell report revealing allegations of excessive drinking, erratic behavior, and unexplained absences while running the FBI.
Patel has repeatedly denied those claims and is suing The Atlantic over its report. At the same time, the FBI reportedly opened an investigation focused on Sarah Fitzpatrick, the reporter behind the bombshell allegations, after the article was published.
Even President Donald Trump is reportedly getting fed up with Patel’s behavior.
The president, who has abstained from drinking after his brother died of alcoholism, was not pleased with Patel chugging beers with the Team USA Men’s Hockey team after their gold medal Olympic win earlier this year. Trump reportedly did not like the optics of his officials drinking while claiming they were on official government business.
