(Ken Silva, Headline USA) FBI Director Kashyap Patel joined the American men’s hockey players in the locker room Sunday for a rowdy celebration of winning the gold medal in the Winter Olympics.
Videos shared on social media showed a pumped-up Patel drinking beer from a bottle and spraying the rest around the locker room. After one of the players draped his gold medal around Patel’s neck, he joined the players as they jumped up and down.
A source sent me this video of FBI Director Kash Patel partying with the US Men's Olympic Hockey team. pic.twitter.com/egjmdhOAF6
— William Turton (@WilliamTurton) February 22, 2026
“There was a threat at the president’s residence at MAL, Americans in Mexico are facing major threats by cartel members, Nancy Guthrie is still missing, and our FBI Director thinks he’s a frat bro?!,” Xochitl Hinojosa, the spokeswoman for former Attorney General Merrick Garland said on X.
Patel responded to the criticism by posting that he 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.”
The FBI director had defended his official trip to Italy by saying he was going to meet with Italian law enforcement officials and Americans helping to provide security at the Olympics. He posted pictures this week of his visit to the Milan Joint Operations Center, which he said was charged with protecting the security of American athletes and all those who traveled to Milan for the Winter Games. He also posted a photo of his meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Italy.
Patel has been under heavy criticism for using the FBI’s gulfstream jet for personal reasons during the government shutdown, when agents weren’t getting paid. Patel’s trips included seeing Wilkins sing the National Anthem at a wrestling match in Pennsylvania last October, and visiting a hunting resort called Boondoggle Ranch in Texas a week later.
FBI spokesman Ben Williamson has attempted to downplay his boss’s use of the FBI jet, posting on Twitter/X that Patel is forced to use a government plane even when flying for personal reasons. Williamson also said Patel pays a reimbursement in advance for his flights, as per government rules.
However, Patel is only required to pay the equivalent of commercial fare for his flights. The cost of operating FBI jets is exponentially more than that. For example, a Government Accountability Office report found in 2013 that then-Attorney General Eric Holder paid $420.90 for a flight that cost the taxpayers $15,894.
Patel has also devoted public resources to protect his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, despite the two not even living together.
“Patel’s country music performer girlfriend currently enjoys the protection of an FBI security detail to shield her from potential threats, prompting concerns that the arrangement may delay law enforcement from responding to other incidents,” MS NOW reported in November, citing two anonymous sources.
“People familiar with FBI security protocols said they were unaware of any instance in which the girlfriends of top FBI officials received government-staffed security details. Former FBI Director Christopher Wray’s wife Helen received a security detail; she lived with Wray in their home in Atlanta.”
Along with using taxpayer resources for personal benefit, Patel has reversed his position on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Patel previously expressed support for implementing warrant requirements for FISA 702, but he abandoned that position during his confirmation hearings—meaning he supports warrantless surveillance of Americans.
Patel also said that he’d shut down its headquarters and turn it into a “museum for the deep state.” Additionally, he’s yet to live up to promises such as that he’d release all the FBI’s files on notorious sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
