Kash Patel on Monday slammed author Carol Leonnig and MS Now correspondent Ken Dilanian for reporting that the Indian-origin FBI chief was only going to the Olympics for meetings, not for the hockey games, but he attended the games and ended up chugging beer with players.
In a post on X, Leonnig shared the MS Now copy, which claimed that Patel, during what his spokesman said, was on official trip to Milan for security meetings but all of sudden ended up chugging beers with hockey players.
The FBI chief shared the screenshot of the mail that was sent to Leonnig and Dilanian. The screenshot read, “Hey Carol – this is not correct. On background, while we do not comment on travel for security purposes, we have multiple partner and counterpart meetings including the Ambassador, MOU signings, LEGAT meetings, security briefings and more.”
“You may remember in January the Ambassador hosted us in Houston for a law enforcement partner roundtable – https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/201184043 0929777133. Any personal portion would be reimbursed, but I’m only tracking the official meetings. It is NOT accurate to say he’s flying out on government funds for a personal trip. I’d also note this (like all trips) was planned months in advance,” it added.
After this comment, the author asked audience to judge whether it was a personal or business trip? “An FBI director was famously fired for ginning up business meetings on mostly personal trips. July 2025: Patel tweets he plans to attend the 2026 Olympics hockey games. Feb 19: FBI spox tell us Patel use of govt jet to Milan is not a personal trip and “He is not going for the Olympics.” Feb 22: Patel is videotaped in box seats at Olympics, partying in locker room I’m excited too about Team USA’s historic win.
But I have a job to report on what public officials do, especially when it doesn’t square with what they say,” the tweet read.
These comments came after the videos of him cheering with players and briefly chugging beer surfaced on a day when US law-enforcement agencies were dealing with multiple high-pressure developments, including a shooting incident connected to a major political figure’s residence, security alerts affecting Americans abroad, and ongoing sensitive investigations.
Critics argued that the image of the FBI director celebrating overseas during simultaneous crises created a perception problem, even though directors remain connected to secure communications regardless of location.
