Emails show FBI Director Patel took VIP snorkel at Pearl Harbor military cemetery

Government emails obtained through a public records request show FBI Director Kash Patel participated in a VIP snorkel around the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor in August 2025. Military officials coordinated logistics and personnel for the outing, which required special authorization because snorkeling and diving are generally off-limits at the site. The USS Arizona entombs more than 900 sailors and Marines killed in the December 7, 1941 attack.

Patel stopped in Hawaii on his way to official visits in Australia and New Zealand, then returned to the island for two additional days the FBI never disclosed publicly. The bureau had only publicized Patel's visit to the Honolulu field office and meetings with local law enforcement. No former FBI director going back to at least 1993 has gone snorkeling at the memorial, according to former government divers and officials familiar with past directors' activities.

The snorkel trip fits a documented pattern of resource-misuse allegations. In October 2025, Patel flew the FBI's $62 million Gulfstream G550 to Penn State to watch his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, perform at a wrestling event, then used the same jet to fly her home to Nashville the next day. The government jet costs taxpayers at least $5,000 per flight hour.

Patel also ordered a new fleet of armored BMW X5s for his personal transport, replacing the Chevrolet Suburbans traditionally used by FBI directors. He assigned four elite FBI SWAT agents and two SUVs full-time to protect and chauffeur Wilkins, a level of security the bureau has never before provided to a director's girlfriend.

Reps. Sydney Kamlager-Dove and Jamie Raskin demanded Patel reimburse taxpayers and produce records for personal flights, lavish vacations, and date nights. They cited reports of at least 10 trips blending official business with leisure. Patel defends the travel by noting FBI directors can't fly commercial for security reasons and says he reimburses the government the cost of a commercial ticket, though operating the Gulfstream costs tens of thousands of dollars per trip.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a DOJ Inspector General complaint over Patel's trip to the Milan Olympics hockey gold-medal game in February 2026. Campaign Legal Center filed a separate OIG complaint covering 10 trips with apparent personal travel on government aircraft.

The snorkel story broke days after FBI insiders told MSNBC that Patel has been padding arrest statistics to inflate his performance record. Field offices were instructed to count as FBI arrests any suspects detained when agents were merely present or assisting another agency. The bureau also placed fugitives on the Most Wanted list minutes before their arrest to claim credit.

Patel denied the allegations at a May 12, 2026 Senate budget hearing where he requested a $12.53 billion FBI budget for fiscal year 2027. He cited a 20-point decline in the murder rate and 31% increase in fentanyl seizures as justification.

After The Atlantic published an April 2026 story alleging Patel drinks excessively and is difficult to rouse the following morning, Patel ordered polygraph exams of more than two dozen members of his security detail and staff. The FBI opened a criminal leak investigation targeting the Atlantic journalist who wrote the piece. FBI agents also queried databases on New York Times reporter Elizabeth Williamson after she reported that Patel used bureau personnel to serve his girlfriend, and recommended investigating her for federal stalking.

In January 2026, the FBI searched the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, seizing computers and devices. Salon noted the FBI's investigative targets so far have been exclusively women journalists.

The accountability architecture for an FBI director involves multiple overlapping bodies, but each has limitations. The DOJ Office of the Inspector General can investigate any DOJ employee including the director, but can't independently discipline or terminate anyone. The DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility handles misconduct allegations. The Senate Judiciary Committee has oversight authority and subpoena power.

But the current structure creates a catch: the Attorney General oversees the DOJ OIG, the President appoints the Attorney General, and the President who nominated Patel can fire him at will. Sen. Dick Durbin released whistleblower information alleging Patel's aircraft misuse delayed high-profile investigations including the Charlie Kirk and Brown University shootings. But with Republicans controlling the Senate Judiciary Committee, no subpoenas have been authorized.

The Antideficiency Act bars federal employees from spending or obligating funds in excess of amounts or for purposes not approved by Congress. If Patel's personal travel on government aircraft exceeds the value of his commercial-ticket reimbursement, the difference could constitute an unauthorized obligation. The GAO tracks Antideficiency Act violations and can refer findings to Congress and the President.

FBI Director is a 10-year Senate-confirmed position designed to span presidential terms and insulate the role from political pressure. Patel was confirmed 51-49 on February 20, 2025, with Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski joining all Democrats in opposition. His three immediate predecessors received at least 92 votes each.

Stacey Young, who founded Justice Connection (a network of former federal prosecutors and agents advocating for DOJ independence), said the snorkel trip fits a pattern of Patel getting entangled in distractions at a site commemorating the second-deadliest attack in U.S. history, instead of staying focused on keeping Americans safe.

The FBI defended the trip as a routine historical tour coordinated by the military to honor those who died. An FBI spokesperson said the visit was part of public national security engagements with counterparts in New Zealand, Australia, the Honolulu Field Office, and the Department of War. The Navy confirmed the VIP snorkel took place but declined to provide details about which other dignitaries have been permitted such excursions.