2026-07-09T20:20:47.803Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
作者：安妮·格雷尔
更新于10分钟前
更新时间：2026年7月9日，美国东部时间晚上7:52
发布时间：2026年7月9日，美国东部时间下午4:20
联邦调查局局长卡什·帕特尔与参议院司法委员会主席查克·格拉斯利在2025年9月16日于哈特参议院办公楼举行的联邦调查局监督听证会上交谈。
参议院司法委员会主席查克·格拉斯利已致信联邦调查局局长卡什·帕特尔，要求其为使用联邦调查局公务机及购买宝马汽车的行为作出解释。该信件由参众两院司法委员会民主党人士获取，并经美国有线电视新闻网核实。此举表明，这位权势显赫的共和党籍委员会主席正对帕特尔涉嫌滥用纳税人资金的开支展开独立监督调查。
在5月5日的信件中，格拉斯利要求帕特尔列出其搭乘联邦调查局公务机的每一次航班行程、相关费用，以及航班是用于公务还是私人用途。若航班因私人原因出行，格拉斯利还要求帕特尔说明是否已向政府偿还相关费用。这位共和党主席同时敦促帕特尔提供一份成本分析明细，对比其购买的宝马汽车与同款雪佛兰萨博班的成本，并列出燃油及存储费用的差异。
联邦调查局局长帕特尔此前已引发争议，尤其是在今年2月奥运会金牌赛结束后，一段他在美国男子冰球队更衣室痛饮啤酒的视频在网络上疯传，引发外界对帕特尔使用联邦调查局资源参与私人球迷行程的质疑。联邦调查局方面此前辩解称，帕特尔当时在米兰是执行公务，期间举办了六场公开活动及两场机密活动，其中包括与奥运安保相关的会议。
联邦调查局在社交媒体帖子中为帕特尔的出行开支辩护，称“本联邦调查局在各方面都更加高效务实”，并声称帕特尔的私人出行花费远低于前任局长克里斯·雷和詹姆斯·科米。
针对帕特尔奥运之行的批评，大多集中在其上任后使用联邦调查局湾流公务机开展私人出行这一点上。
此类批评此前也曾针对历届联邦调查局局长乃至司法部长。而帕特尔本人在出任联邦调查局局长前，就曾批评前任局长雷使用联邦调查局专机，主张应停飞该机型。
“克里斯·雷根本不需要政府资助的G-5公务机去度假，”帕特尔2024年做客格伦·贝克播客时曾表示，“或许我们应该停飞这架飞机——每次起飞就要花费1.5万美元。”
但和当时的克里斯·雷一样，帕特尔也无权自行选择出行方式。
9·11事件后出台的一项政府法规要求司法部长，以及自2011年起的联邦调查局局长，所有出行包括私人行程都必须使用政府公务机。美国司法部表示，该政策的出台原因是，总统及其他高级官员必须始终能够与联邦调查局局长和司法部长保持安全通讯，以应对国家安全或其他紧急情况。
格拉斯利要求帕特尔在5月19日前对这一自愿性要求作出回应。
在信中，这位共和党议员格拉斯利提及自己此前也曾调查过联邦调查局局长的开支问题。
“几十年来，无论白宫由哪个政党掌控，我都一直在努力确保纳税人的资金不被浪费、欺诈和滥用，”格拉斯利在信中写道。
格拉斯利此次致信之际，参众两院民主党人士也已针对帕特尔的开支展开独立调查，其中涉及举报人提供的相关证词。
周四晚间，格拉斯利在X平台上抨击民主党人，称“我的监督工作始终如一，不分政府党派，这与民主党人截然不同——他们似乎只有在政治上对自己有利时，才会对监督工作感兴趣。”
本文已补充更多细节进行更新。
美国有线电视新闻网的埃文·佩雷斯和伊莎贝尔·库尔舒迪安为本报道撰稿。
Republican Sen. Grassley probing FBI Director Patel’s travel and spending
2026-07-09T20:20:47.803Z / CNN
By Annie Grayer
Updated 10 min ago
Updated Jul 9, 2026, 7:52 PM ET
PUBLISHED Jul 9, 2026, 4:20 PM ET
FBI Director Kash Patel talks with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, during an oversight hearing on the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in the Hart Senate office building on September 16, 2025.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images/File
Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley has asked FBI Director Kash Patel to defend his use of FBI aircraft and purchase of BMWs in a letter obtained by House and Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats and reviewed by CNN, an indication that the powerful Republican chairman is conducting his own oversight of Patel’s controversial spending of taxpayer dollars.
In a May 5 letter, Grassley asks Patel to list each flight he took on an FBI aircraft, share their cost, and whether the flights were for personal or official purposes. If a flight was for a personal reason, Grassley asks Patel if he has reimbursed the government. The Republican chairman also presses Patel to provide a cost analysis breakdown of the BMW purchases compared to a similar Chevy suburban and outline the fuel and storage comparisons.
The FBI director has stirred controversy, particularly after a video of him chugging beer in the Team USA men’s hockey team locker room went viral after the Olympics gold-medal game in February – raising questions about Patel’s use of FBI resources for what appeared to be a fan’s personal trip. The FBI has maintained that Patel was in Milan in an official capacity and held six public events and two classified events, including meetings related to the Olympic security apparatus.
The FBI defended Patel’s travel costs in a social media post saying, “This FBI is more efficient and effective in every way” and claimed his personal travel was much lower than former directors Chris Wray and James Comey.
Much of the criticism of Patel’s Olympics trip centers on his use of an FBI Gulfstream jet for personal travel since taking office.
It’s a criticism that has also dogged previous FBI directors, and before, attorneys general. And Patel himself, before becoming FBI director, criticized the use of the FBI plane by his predecessor Wray, suggesting it should be grounded.
“Chris Wray doesn’t need a government-funded G-5 jet to go to vacation,” Patel said when appearing on Glenn Beck’s podcast in 2024. “Maybe we ground that plane — $15,000 every time it takes off.”
But just like it wasn’t up to Wray then, Patel doesn’t have a choice in how he travels.
A post-9/11 government regulation requires the attorney general, and since 2011, the FBI director, to use government aircraft for all travel, including personal trips. The reason for the policy, according to the Justice Department, is that the president and other top officials must always have secure communications available with the FBI director and attorney general, in case of national security or other emergencies.
Grassley gave Patel until May 19 to respond to the voluntary request.
In the letter, Grassley, a Republican, points to other times he has probed an FBI director’s spending habits.
“For decades, regardless of which political party is in the White House, I have worked to ensure that taxpayers dollars are protected from waste, fraud, and abuse” Grassley wrote.
Grassley’s letter comes as House and Senate Democrats have launched their own probe into Patel’s spending, including references to whistleblower accounts.
Grassley, Thursday evening, blasted Democrats on X saying, “My oversight is the same no matter the admin UNLIKE Dems who only seem interested in oversight when it benefits them politically.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Evan Perez and Isabelle Khurshudyan contributed to this report.
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