United States FBI Director Kash Patel attended the 2026 Winter Olympics, and a few individuals are questioning why he was there after a video of him celebrating with Group USA’s males’s hockey group went viral. Critics accused Patel of utilizing taxpayer {dollars} to fund his journey to Milan, Italy, and his go to got here shortly after JD Vance and Usha Vance‘s look on the Video games.
Right here’s what we learn about Patel’s Milano Cortina Olympics look.
How Lengthy Was Kash Patel on the 2026 Winter Olympics?
Patel wasn’t on the Olympics for lengthy. His go to gave the impression to be temporary, as he was noticed watching the lads’s gold medal match on February 22. Later that night, a video of him chugging a beer and partying with the hockey group of their locker room went viral on social media.
In response to CBS Information, Patel flew by way of authorities jet from Joint Base Andrews close to Washington, D.C., to a U.S. Air Power base in Italy on February 19. The FBI, nevertheless, denied that this was a private journey and insisted that Patel’s go to was deliberate months upfront.
This text is designed to mislead – CBS is simply taking a look at public flight monitoring, guessing, after which filling house with outdated information and quotes from Democrats.
No, it’s not a private journey. Director Patel is on a visit that was deliberate months in the past. It consists of: companion conferences… https://t.co/hgsF4IHvYp
— Ben Williamson (@_WilliamsonBen) February 19, 2026
FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson referred to as out CBS for its report about Patel’s flight in a tweetwhich learn, “No, it’s not a private journey. Director Patel is on a visit that was deliberate months in the past. It consists of: companion conferences with Italian regulation enforcement and safety officers (they invited the Director final July), assembly with Ambassador Fertitta (as a follow-up to our regulation enforcement roundtable he hosted in January), conferences with Legat workers, and extra.”
Williamson added that the FBI “additionally has a significant function in Olympic safety – as we do with the World Cup, F1, and extra – so we’ve got a U.S. consulate briefing on Olympic safety and present FBI posture, in addition to thanking FBI personnel on the bottom.”
Why Was Kash Patel on the 2026 Olympics?
Apparently, Patel was there to look at the lads’s hockey ultimate between Group USA and Group Canada. Patel was photographed within the stands on the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Area, sporting a white USA jersey to cheer on the group.
“Unity, Sacrifice, Angle – what it takes to be the very best on the earth,” Patel tweeted later that day concerning the American males’s Olympic hockey group. “These males stay and breathe it. Now Group USA are gold medal champions, legends standing on the shoulders of giants. Thanks for representing the best nation on earth, within the biggest sport ever created. congrats boys.”
In a separate tweet that night, Patel wrote to the “very involved media” about his locker room look with the lads’s group, including, “sure, I like America and was extraordinarily humbled when my mates, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Group USA, invited me into the locker room to have fun this historic second with the boys- Best nation on earth and biggest sport on earth.”