His boss is known to show up at the Super Bowl, the U.S. Open, UFC events, the FIFA World Cup Final and, of course, LIV Golf tournaments held at at Trump courses, but FBI director Kash Patel took it one step further this weekend, popping up in the locker room with the Team USA Men’s Hockey Team after their gold medal win at the Milan Cortina Olympics in Italy.
Patel uploaded four photos from the scene to his personal Twitter account and also re-tweeted the post to his official FBI account.
The director included a photo of himself with a quartet of Team USA players, including Jack Hughes, who scored the decisive overtime goal that clinched the gold.
He also posted a pic of himself and a champagne-soaked coach Mike Sullivan in the locker room as the players celebrated in the background.
“Unity, Sacrifice, Attitude- what it takes to be the best in the world,” wrote Patel. “These men live and breathe it. Now Team USA are gold medal champions, legends standing on the shoulders of giants. Thank you for representing the greatest country on earth, in the greatest game ever created.”
After CBS published an article earlier this week noting the noted hockey fan’s trip to Italy coincided with the gold medal game, FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson tweeted that the FBI has a “major role” in Olympics security.
“No, it’s not a personal trip,” wrote Williamson. “Director Patel is on a trip that was planned months ago. It includes: partner meetings with Italian law enforcement and security officials (they invited the Director last July), meeting with Ambassador Fertitta (as a follow up to our law enforcement roundtable he hosted in January), meetings with Legat staff, and more.”
Last year, Congressional Democrats investigated Patel’s use of the government plane, after he reportedly used it to attend a wrestling event in Pennsylvania where his girlfriend performed the national anthem. in April, questions arose about two trips on two successive days that Patel made to New York where he was seen at Hockey events. In March, Vermont Senator Peter Welch questioned the FBI director’s appearance at an MMA match with Mel Gibson.
Today’s appearance in Milan caught the eye (and ire) of Senator Corey Booker, who reposted a video about Patel’s trip and wrote on Twitter, “While Americans are facing rising costs. Trump, Kash Patel, and others are using our taxpayer dollars to fund their lavish lifestyle.”