FBI Director Kash Patel’s travel to watch his girlfriend sing at a Pennsylvania sporting event is now being investigated by the top Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee.
Citing a series of recent media reports, the committee Democrats allege Patel has used the FBI’s Gulfstream passenger jet for a series of recent flights for a “date night” in Tennessee and an outing with friends in Texas.
The panel’s Democrats have asked Patel to respond with travel records, passenger information and any communication with passengers about the recent flights.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Maryland Democrat who is the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and another committee member, Democratic Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California, wrote to the FBI to ask about Patel’s Oct. 25 flight to Pennsylvania.
“You flew there because your girlfriend was performing at a wrestling match on the campus of Pennsylvania State University,” the Democrats wrote in the letter. “After attending her performance, you used the government’s jet to fly with her home to Nashville the following day. Your ‘date night’ had no apparent connections to your official duties.”
The inquiry also questioned a trip to Texas that was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
“Later that weekend, you took the FBI jet to San Angelo, Texas, for four days, where Republican Party mega-donor Bubba Saulsbury hosted you at Boondoggle Ranch—’a scenic hunting resort’ that touts itself as the ideal place to ‘waste money or time on unnecessary or questionable projects,'” Raskin and Kamlager-Dove wrote.
The FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Judiciary Committee Democrats said Patel’s travel on the flights was revealed by public flight logs and social media posts by Patel’s girlfriend.
The Democrats’ letter seeks Patel’s travel records from the FBI by Dec. 15. But as minority party members of the panel, Raskin and Kamlager-Dove do not have the congressional subpoena power to require the records be handed over — they may only request them. Raskin and Kamlager-Dover wrote, “These planes are not yours. They are the property of the U.S. Government and are paid for by the American people.”
In May, CBS News reported about questions surrounding Patel’s use of the FBI aircraft, including a formal request by Senate Democrats for a Government Accountability Office review of Patel’s travel.
FBI directors are required by executive branch policy to use government aircraft for air travel, whether official or personal. That allows them to maintain access to secure communications wherever they travel and to move quickly in the event of an emergency. They must reimburse the government for personal flights at coach fare rates. Directors are permitted to take family or friends on personal trips, but the cost of their trips must be reimbursed to the government, as well.
CBS News reporting in May found Patel also appears to have made use of the FBI’s Gulfstream 5 jets to travel to Las Vegas, where he has a home, and to Nashville, where Patel’s girlfriend, a country singer, lives. Sources familiar with Patel’s travel confirmed to CBS News that the director was on the plane for several trips captured by public flight trackers, including a weekend jaunt to Las Vegas on March 7 and a weekend in Nashville on March 24.