WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) – A top Senate Democrat alleged on Tuesday that FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal travel and decision-making have undermined high-profile investigations, citing a whistleblower report.
Senator Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote in a letter to two government watchdogs that Patel has “seemingly engaged in what amounts to irresponsible joyriding on DOJ and FBI-operated aircraft at the expense of the American taxpayer and to the detriment of ongoing Bureau operations.”
A whistleblower told Durbin’s staff that the FBI’s shooting reconstruction team was delayed in responding to the Utah university where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated in September because of a pilot shortage caused by Patel’s personal travel.
Pilots had to complete a mandatory rest period before flying the team of investigators, tasked with analyzing and reconstructing shooting scenes, to Utah, according to Durbin’s letter. Reuters could not independently verify the whistleblower’s claims. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations. But FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson dismissed the criticism in an X post, saying Durbin was “full of it.”
The disclosures added to scrutiny of Patel’s taxpayer-funded trips on FBI planes. Patel’s trip to the Olympics in Milan, Italy drew widespread attention after videos showed his beer-soaked locker-room celebration with the U.S. men’s hockey team following their gold medal win on Sunday.
Williamson said previously that Patel was in Italy on official business and attended meetings with foreign officials and U.S. personnel handling security at the Olympics. Patel has said the FBI director is legally required to travel on government planes.
Durbin requested the Government Accountability Office, a research arm of Congress, investigate the new claims and the Justice Department’s internal watchdog examine Patel’s travel.
The whistleblower also said Patel’s decisions delayed investigators tasked with responding to a mass shooting at Brown University in December.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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