Top Dems investigate Kash Patel’s ‘luxury’ perks and ‘out of control’ spending

Alex Woodward Thu, July 9, 2026 at 5:54 PM UTC

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FBI Director Kash Patel is facing an investigation from the top Democrats on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees over his alleged ‘misuse’ of public funds for personal travel while his ‘out of control’ spending at the bureau includes the purchase of BMW SUVs (Getty)

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FBI Director Kash Patel is facing an investigation from Democrats in the House and Senate over his alleged “misuse” of taxpayer funds for “luxury” expenses, including a fleet of BMW vehicles, while jet setting on “official” business that includes jet ski trips and helicopter tours.

The investigation, launched by top Democrats on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, follows a letter to Patel from Republican Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, who demanded that the FBI director answer questions about luxury cars, his use of government aircraft and whether he reimbursed taxpayers for personal travel.

In their letter, dated July 8, Rep. Jamie Raskin and Sen. Dick Durbin said Patel has been accused of demanding special “perks” during international travel, including “VIP snorkeling” trips in Hawaii and jet skiing, helicopter tours and other recreational activities while on FBI business.

Sources told the committee members that his jet setting is “out of control,” according to the letter. An FBI attache in Wellington, New Zealand “may have been established in part to facilitate or justify a sightseeing trip there,” according to the lawmakers.

The probe follows extensive scrutiny into Donald Trump’s beleaguered FBI director, who vehemently denied explosive reporting in The Atlantic earlier this year that characterized him as a deeply paranoid figure prone to big spending and drinking to excess.

“The American people deserve an FBI Director focused on keeping us all safe rather than jet-setting to check off personal bucket list items,” Raskin and Durbin wrote to Patel on Wednesday.

“Congress requires a transparent accounting of how you are using Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars,” they said.

In a statement to The Independent, a spokesperson for the FBI said the allegations outlined in the letter are “completely false.”

Allegations that Patel went jet skiing and took a helicopter tour “are both false,” according to the FBI.

The FBI has said Patel has “reimbursed ALL personal travel and expenses, strictly following the Office of Management and Budget rules, in the exact same manner as all previous FBI Directors — and is fully compliant.”

The opening of the FBI office in New Zealand “was an official event and the first new legal attaché office opening in a decade,” the agency said.

In his May 5 letter, Grassley — a top Trump ally in the Senate — asked Patel to “please explain why you decided to purchase BMW vehicles instead of Chevy Suburbans.”

The letter followed reporting from MS NOW that Patel directed the bureau to buy several BMW x5 SUVs for his use despite the agency’s long-standing policy of Chevrolet Suburban SUVs.

The FBI said the agency bought the cars from the State Department, where they were “sitting idle and unused in their warehouse.”

In their letter, Raskin and Durbin said they “appreciate Chairman Grassley raising these concerns, which mirror those raised repeatedly by House and Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats.”

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The Democrats then listen allegations including a snorkeling trip, a helicopter tour, and retaliating against FBI personnel in Brussels because they “failed to ensure you were adequately entertained.”

Internal “concerns and strains” under Patel’s alleged prioritization of his “personal entertainment” on international trips “may have led to the resignation of the head of the FBI’s international operations this year,” according to Raskin and Durbin.

“This is not the conduct of a committed and faithful public servant, especially one entrusted with ensuring the safety of almost 350 million Americans,” they wrote.

The FBI insists that personnel “are only fired or reassigned based on performance or if they have found to have undermined the mission.”

“Any suggestion otherwise is false,” according to an agency spokesperson.

Patel has vehemently denied allegations that he is drinking to excess following reporting in The Atlantic and after widely shared social media footage showed him partying and chugging beer with the US Olympic men’s hockey team (Kash Patel)

Patel has previously come under fire after video footage showed him chugging beer and partying with members of the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team in the locker room after the team’s gold-winning game at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Following reporting in The Atlantic, several congressional Democrats called on Patel to share his responses to a 10-question Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test.

While testifying to the Senate Appropriations Committee in May, Patel said he would take the test if Sen. Chris Van Hollen also shared his own results. Van Hollen posted his test on social media the next day.

Patel has yet to share his own.

He filed a $250 defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic, which is standing by its reporting.

“I’m like an everyday American who loves his country, loves the sport of hockey, and champions my friends when they raise a gold medal and invite me in to celebrate,” Patel told reporters in April. “I've never been intoxicated on the job, and that's why we filed a $250 million lawsuit. Any one of you that wants to participate? Bring it on. I’ll see you in court.”

In April and May, lawmakers requested Patel to submit his responses to a 10-questions alcohol use screening tool. He has not yet done so (Getty)

The FBI director told members of Congress that he traveled to Milan to oversee security operations for roughly 250,000 Americans who attended the games. He also said he coordinated the arrest an alleged Chinese cybercriminal who was already in Italian custody.

The agency “purposefully planned that trip around the Olympics” and reached an agreement with Italian authorities to “have that individual expelled from Italy” rather than return to China, Patel told the Senate Appropriations Committee in May.

“We accomplished that mission. We kept it quiet. That individual was returned to America,” he said.

Democrats on the House and Senate Judiciary committee are now demanding a “full accounting” of Patel’s spending.

“The American people deserve an FBI Director focused on keeping us all safe rather than jet-setting to check off personal bucket list items,” Raskin and Durbin wrote. “Congress requires a transparent accounting of how you are using Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars.”

The Democrats are asking for his response by 5 p.m. July 22.

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