Kash Patel is facing fierce backlash after snorkeling around a sunken Pearl Harbor battleship that still entombs the remains of nearly 900 American sailors, then jetting off to Las Vegas.
The FBI director embarked on the ‘VIP’ ocean excursion above the remains of the USS Arizona during a two-day Hawaii stopover last August, according to the Associated Press.
Snorkeling and diving around the sunken battleship are banned outright, except for a handful of exceptions granted to crews tasked with monitoring the wreck’s condition.
He had already touched down on the island days earlier in order to visit the FBI’s Honolulu field office.
However, the swimming event was buried by the FBI even as the bureau trumpeted Patel’s official meetings during his Hawaii trip.
Military brass quietly coordinated the logistics and personnel for the exclusive swim, which the Navy now brushes off as ‘not an anomaly’ for top officials.
The National Park Service, which oversees the hallowed memorial alongside the Navy, said it had no involvement in Patel’s outing. It is unclear exactly how Patel’s snorkeling session was arranged.
Marine veteran Hack Albertson blasted Patel’s swim as a desecration, fuming that letting political figures splash above the war dead is ‘like having a bachelor party at a church.’
Patel is facing fierce backlash after snorkeling around a sunken Pearl Harbor battleship that still entombs the remains of nearly 900 American sailors, then jetting off to Las Vegas
The FBI director embarked on the ‘VIP’ ocean excursion above the remains of the USS Arizona during a two-day Hawaii stopover last August
The swimming event was buried by the FBI even as the bureau trumpeted Patel’s official meetings during his Hawaii trip
Patel’s snorkeling scandal piles onto mounting concerns over his globe-trotting on the FBI’s dime using a government-issued private jet.
The FBI director remained on Hawaii for two nights before using his private FBI Gulfstream jet to fly to Las Vegas.
Snorkelers on Patel’s outing were given strict orders not to touch or make any contact with the sunken vessel.
The FBI has not issued a statement commenting on the director’s snorkeling vacation.
Patel has battled a tidal wave of unflattering headlines centered on his drinking habits, kicked off by an April Atlantic exposé alleging ‘excessive drinking and unexplained absences.’
Patel’s late-night partying and drinking reportedly forced aides scrambling to push back morning meetings.
The same report also claimed his security detail once requested ‘breaching equipment’ after they couldn’t rouse the FBI director from behind a locked door.
Patel has denied all the allegations and filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the Atlantic.
Adding to his growing slew of bad headlines, a viral February clip showed Patel chugging a beer with the US men’s Olympic hockey team in Milan, behavior that NBC News reported left Donald Trump personally displeased with the locker-room antics.
