Chuck Grassley Joins Democrats in Demanding Info on Kash Patel’s Spending

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley sought information from FBI Director Kash Patel over his use of the bureau’s private jets and other spending, in a previously undisclosed letter that adds bipartisan heft to similar oversight efforts from Democrats.

The May letter from the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman was reviewed by NOTUS on Thursday, as Patel prepares for a scheduled trip to the FBI field office in Chicago on Friday. Patel’s girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, is scheduled to perform in Chicago on Saturday.

Patel has faced questions from Democrats about his travel and use of private planes for months, while Republican lawmakers have largely been silent.

Grassley, a staunch Trump administration supporter, referred to his past oversight of prior FBI directors’ use of the planes and efforts to reduce government waste and cited media reports detailing Patel’s travels.

Grassley’s letter also demanded to know why Patel had purchased armored BMWs, a luxury European brand, instead of the typical American-made Chevy Suburban sport utility vehicles typically used by the bureau.

The details of the letter were not made public until MS NOW first reported on it Thursday.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) referred to Grassley’s letter in their own letter Wednesday launching a bicameral investigation into what they called “misuse and mismanagement of Federal Bureau of Investigation resources.”

The Democrats’ letter cited a “VIP snorkeling experience in Hawaii,” jet skiing, and a “taxpayer-funded helicopter tour during your multi-country jaunt across East Asia.”

Before he became FBI director, Patel criticized his predecessor’s travel on FBI aircraft, saying on a podcast, “Maybe we ground that plane.” After taking the director role, Patel defended his use of the plane under congressional questioning last year.

The FBI’s public affairs office said Thursday that “FBI Director Patel has made just a fraction of the personal trips annually compared to prior FBI directors.”

The bureau pointed out that Patel has opted to use government airfields like Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, while previous directors flew out of the privately run Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which charged a $4,526 landing fee that added up to millions of dollars over the past two decades.

The FBI said the BMWs were purchased from the State Department, which had kept them “sitting idle and unused in their warehouse.” The FBI said two of its armored Chevy Suburbans normally reserved for protective details “were experiencing significant maintenance issues and needed to be replaced,” a tradeoff the bureau said saved $270,000 per vehicle.

But the timing of the back-and-forth could take on a new significance given Patel’s planned trip on Friday to Chicago, where Wilkins is scheduled to perform on Saturday.

Patel has been criticized in the past for using a government jet related to Wilkins. Kyle Seraphin, an ex-FBI agent who is now a conservative podcaster, first drew the public’s attention to flight records that appeared to show a government jet skipping around Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania — which lined up with Patel joining Wilkins at a Hulk Hogan event in Pennsylvania in October. Seraphin pointed out that the jet then flew to Nashville “where she lives.”

Patel’s upcoming trip to Chicago also comes after Douglas DePodesta, the former head of the Chicago field office, was recently forced out. Seraphin, whom The Bulwark has dubbed Patel’s “nemesis,” pointed out the trip and concert in a July 1 X post that described the director’s Chicago visit as meeting with field office officials.

One former FBI official who spoke to NOTUS last week said Patel’s visit was “cover to attend his girlfriend’s concert.”

In the letter Wednesday, Raskin and Durbin conceded that an FBI director is a “required use” traveler who can use government-owned aircraft for security reasons, even for personal travel. But they pointed out that ethics rules prevent Patel from a “taxpayer-funded vacation where official business was limited to perfunctory, pro forma meetings designed to cover the tracks of essentially personal travel.”

Patel would be required to pay the taxpayer back for personal travel, “and there is no exception for personal trips where you add a cosmetic work meeting or two,” the Democrats’ letter said.

The FBI said Patel “has reimbursed ALL personal travel and expenses, strictly following the Office of Management and Budget rules, in the exact same manner as all previous FBI directors — and is fully compliant.”

Grassley’s May 5 letter asked Patel to provide all records of having reimbursed taxpayers for his trips and gave him two weeks to respond. It’s unclear if the FBI responded. Grassley’s staff did not reply to a request for comment and the FBI did not say whether the bureau had done so.