Dem lawmakers want Kash Patel to answer for his spending -- but this time they're not alone

[LetMyPeopleVote]

A powerful Republican who has publicly defended the FBI director is now demanding answers on his BMW purchases and his use of the bureau jet.

MS NOW Exclusive: Kash Patel has been demanding special perks from bureau employees during his taxpayer-funded travels throughout the country, including helicopter tours and jet ski excursions, according to whistleblower accounts given to Democrats on the House and Senate Judiciary committees.

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1.bsky.social) 2026-07-09T15:41:13.634Z

https://www.ms.now/news/house-democrats-want-kash-patel-to-answer-for-his-spending-but-this-time-theyre-not-alone

FBI Director Kash Patel has been demanding special perks from bureau employees during his taxpayer-funded travels throughout the country, including helicopter tours and jet ski excursions, according to whistleblower accounts given to Democrats on the House and Senate Judiciary committees and obtained exclusively by MS NOW.

An FBI spokesman disputed the allegations.

But the Democrats are not alone in their concerns about Patel’s use of public resources; MS NOW has also viewed a letter to Patel from Republican Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley written in May demanding that Patel turn over information about his flights on FBI aircraft and about the FBI’s purchase of BMW vehicles, which was first reported in December by MS NOW.

“For each trip where you used an FBI aircraft for personal travel, have you reimbursed the FBI as required by law? If yes, please provide the records,” the Grassley letter says.....

The letter from Democrats references an incident last summer, when Patel was allowed by the military to take a VIP snorkeling trip in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, around the wreckage of the USS Arizona, where 1,177 sailors and Marines died during the Japanese attack in 1941. That excursion was first reported by The Associated Press and confirmed by Patel’s spokesman, who defended it as “a historical tour to honor heroes who died” on the sunken aircraft carrier.

“Your VIP snorkeling experience in Hawaii was not an isolated incident,” Raskin and Durbin wrote. “You frequently demand special perks on ‘official’ trips around the globe, such as a taxpayer-funded helicopter tour during your multi-country jaunt across East Asia and other recreational activities like jet skiing.”

I am still offended by the snorkeling tour around the Arizona. That stunt was so disrespectful and disgusting that Patel should be fired just for that stunt

[flying rabbit]

1. What is this sunken aircraft carrier

that the spokesman referenced?