Senate Democrat Claims FBI Director’s Travel Hurt Major Investigations

A Senate Democrat alleges FBI Director Kash Patel's personal travel has interfered with critical investigations. The claims come from a whistleblower who says pilot shortages caused by Patel's trips delayed response teams to high-profile incidents.

WASHINGTON – A leading Senate Democrat is raising concerns that FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal travel habits have interfered with major federal investigations, according to allegations from a government whistleblower.

Senator Dick Durbin, who serves as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter Tuesday to federal oversight agencies accusing Patel of “seemingly engaged in what amounts to irresponsible joyriding on DOJ and FBI-operated aircraft at the expense of the American taxpayer and to the detriment of ongoing Bureau operations.”

According to Durbin’s letter, a whistleblower informed his staff that the FBI’s specialized shooting reconstruction unit faced delays reaching a Utah university following the September assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The delay allegedly occurred because pilots needed mandatory rest time after being used for Patel’s personal travel.

The shooting reconstruction specialists, who analyze and rebuild crime scenes involving firearms, were reportedly held up due to the pilot availability issues, Durbin’s correspondence states. Reuters has not been able to confirm these whistleblower allegations independently.

The FBI has not yet provided an official response to these accusations. However, FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson rejected Durbin’s criticism on social media platform X, stating the senator was “full of it.”

These new allegations come amid ongoing questions about Patel’s use of taxpayer-funded government aircraft. His recent trip to the Milan Olympics in Italy generated significant attention after footage emerged showing him celebrating with beer alongside the U.S. men’s hockey team in their locker room after Sunday’s gold medal victory.

Williamson previously defended that trip, explaining Patel was conducting official government business in Italy, including meetings with foreign officials and American security personnel overseeing Olympic operations. Patel has maintained that FBI directors are legally obligated to use government aircraft for travel.

Durbin has requested that the Government Accountability Office, which serves as Congress’s research division, launch an investigation into these new allegations. He also wants the Justice Department’s inspector general to review Patel’s travel patterns.

The whistleblower additionally claimed that Patel’s decision-making caused delays for investigators responding to a mass shooting incident at Brown University in December.