FBI Director Kash Patel's travel habits are under fresh fire. In a letter to two government watchdogs citing new whistleblower claims, Sen. Dick Durbin said Tuesday that Patel's "irresponsible joyriding" on FBI aircraft for what Durbin called "leisure activities and travel bucket list" trips had "negatively impacted high-profile criminal investigations," report Reuters and the Hill.
The Illinois Democrat says one whistleblower detailed how FBI pilots hit their FAA flight-time limits "caused by the Director's personal flights." That in turn allegedly delayed an FBI shooting reconstruction team's arrival at the scene of Charlie Kirk's murder in Utah by at least a day. A second complaint detailed by Durbin faults Patel's decision-making: Durbin alleges a Virginia-based shooting reconstruction team had to drive through the night to respond to the December shooting at Brown University because Patel allegedly tied up the needed plane by putting the Hostage Rescue Team on standby; Durbin alleges that was unnecessary because local SWAT teams could have handled the situation.
The FBI has pushed back hard. Spokesperson Ben Williamson said on X that there would never be a case where "the FBI delayed or couldn't send resources because of Director travel." He called the Brown claim "totally false" and the Utah allegation "more egregious" because Patel was on official travel tied to 9/11 commemorations at the time. The Hill notes FBI directors must use government aircraft for personal travel to ensure their security.
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