发布时间：2026年2月24日，美国东部时间下午1:14 | CNN政治
作者：[埃文·佩雷斯]
1小时47分钟前
周日，当社交媒体上疯传FBI局长卡什·帕特尔在更衣室庆祝美国男子冰球队夺得奥运金牌时畅饮啤酒的照片后，FBI总部的高层官员正在追踪墨西哥军方击毙一名贩毒集团头目后爆发的暴力事件。
FBI连日来一直为这位热爱曲棍球的帕特尔乘坐该局飞机前往意大利辩护，称这是长期计划中的公务行程，恰逢美国队的奖牌赛阶段。
大部分批评集中在帕特尔自上任以来使用FBI湾流喷气式飞机进行私人旅行上。这一批评也困扰着历任FBI局长，以及更早的司法部长。而帕特尔本人在成为FBI局长之前，曾批评其前任克里斯托弗·雷使用FBI飞机，称应该将其停飞。
“克里斯·雷不需要政府资助的G-5喷气式飞机去度假，”帕特尔在2024年接受格伦·贝克播客采访时表示，“也许我们应该停飞这架飞机——每次起飞都要花费15,000美元。”
但就像当时这并不取决于雷一样，帕特尔在如何出行上没有选择。
一项9/11后的政府规定要求司法部长，自2011年起也包括FBI局长，所有出行（包括私人行程）必须使用政府飞机。根据司法部的说法，该政策的原因是总统和其他高层官员必须始终能与FBI局长和司法部长保持安全通信，以防国家安全或其他紧急情况。
自一年前就任局长以来，帕特尔前往纳什维尔和其他地方探望女友、与朋友前往高尔夫胜地以及参加曲棍球比赛的行程，招致民主党人的批评，他们要求FBI提供有关资源使用的信息。
“帕特尔先生，这些飞机不是你的。它们是美国政府的财产，由美国人民支付费用，”马里兰州议员杰米·拉斯金和加利福尼亚州议员西德尼·卡姆拉格-多夫在12月给帕特尔的信中写道。
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帕特尔和FBI为使用FBI飞机进行辩护，称他遵守联邦法律，个人旅行费用需向政府偿还商业机票费用。批评者指出，FBI飞机的运营成本高达数万美元，远超过商业机票的报销金额。
上周他前往意大利参加奥运会时，FBI反驳了哥伦比亚广播公司新闻报道称帕特尔是为了支持美国男子曲棍球队而旅行，并列举了他计划参加的多次会议。
一位了解此次行程的人士告诉CNN，此次意大利之行包括执法会议和官方协议签署，早在美国曲棍球队进入决赛前就已长期计划。
过去几年，FBI曾派遣特工观察奥运会安全准备工作。但历任FBI局长都没有亲自为此类准备工作出差。
尽管如此，当帕特尔出现在男子曲棍球决赛现场时，几乎无人感到惊讶。帕特尔多年来一直打曲棍球，是众所周知的球迷。他曾与曲棍球传奇韦恩·格雷茨基一同观看华盛顿首都队球星亚历山大·奥维奇金打破并超越格雷茨基的历史进球纪录的比赛。
在FBI内部，帕特尔的行为让一些员工产生分歧。一些人赞赏帕特尔拥抱“兄弟文化”，并经常为他们的工作加油打气。另一些人则批评局长佩戴FBI徽章，尽管他并非特工，并且在周日曲棍球庆祝的病毒式视频中看到他们的领导人畅饮啤酒并使用脏话感到尴尬。一些人正在传播帕特尔奥运会之行的AI生成YouTube视频，其中包括一个虚构版本的FBI局长在更衣室跳舞和喷洒香槟的视频。
然而，据一位了解此事的人士称，帕特尔实际访问更衣室的视频在比赛后数小时内流传开来，而当时高层官员仍在努力评估墨西哥部分地区美国人的安全问题，那里贩毒集团武装分子在街头纵火焚烧车辆和建筑物。
一位FBI高级官员表示，局长周日一直在接收有关墨西哥局势发展的最新消息，FBI继续提供必要的支持。
根据政府投标提案记录，FBI去年寻求获得一架新的远程飞机。
该提案称，FBI需要一架“超远程公务机，以便能够快速、全球运输司法部人员，以支持反恐行动、高风险行动和其他敏感任务。”
这一请求是在丹·博宁诺（前FBI副局长）因安全考虑推动也能使用政府飞机后提出的。通常，FBI副局长并非自动有资格乘坐私人飞机。
在对使用喷气式飞机的批评声中，司法部在发布新飞机招标请求约一个月后撤回了该请求。当时FBI发言人表示，博宁诺的出行不是提出喷气式飞机建议的原因。
FBI飞机的私人行程常遭批评
多年来，参议员查克·格拉斯利一直批评政府飞机用于私人行程的问题。这位爱荷华州共和党人曾写信并严厉批评前司法部长埃里克·霍尔德和雷使用FBI飞机。但在去年秋天的听证会上，民主党人就帕特尔使用飞机提出质疑时，他却把矛头指向了帕特尔的批评者。
“我觉得有趣的是，我的民主党同事似乎提出了您使用司法部飞机的问题，然而我的民主党同事似乎对我监督雷使用飞机的情况并不感兴趣，”他说，“我没有听到任何声音。所以，我的民主党同事需要保持一致。”
曾受到格拉斯利和其他共和党人批评的前司法部长霍尔德表示，他对同样的共和党人在帕特尔的行程上保持沉默感到惊讶。霍尔德表示，他仍然认为FBI局长出于紧急安全通信原因使用政府飞机有合理需求，但他认为帕特尔正在滥用这一特权。
霍尔德在接受CNN采访时表示，在他担任司法部长期间，他将家庭海外旅行改为前往玛莎葡萄园岛。
“你能想象如果我像帕特尔那样使用政府飞机，共和党人的哗然吗？而现在他们只有沉默，”霍尔德说。
联邦机构 奥运会
Kash Patel’s use of the FBI jet sparks outrage. Here’s why he couldn’t travel to the Olympics any other way
PUBLISHED Feb 24, 2026, 1:14 PM ET | CNN Politics
By [Evan Perez]
1 hr 47 min ago
Top officials at FBI headquarters were tracking the outbreak of violence in Mexico on Sunday after its military killed a drug cartel boss when social media erupted with viral images of Director Kash Patel chugging beer in the locker room celebration of the Olympic gold medal-winning US men’s hockey team.
The FBI for days fought off criticism of the hockey-loving Patel’s trip on the agency plane to Italy for what the bureau said was long-planned official business, which coincided with the medal round of play for Team USA.
Much of the criticism centers on Patel’s use of an FBI Gulfstream jet for personal travel since taking office. It’s a criticism that has also dogged previous FBI directors, and earlier, attorneys general. And Patel himself, before becoming FBI director, criticized the use of the FBI plane by his predecessor Christopher 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.
Since becoming director a year ago, Patel’s trips to Nashville and other locations to visit his girlfriend, a golfing destination with friends and to attend hockey games have prompted criticism from Democrats who have demanded the FBI provide information about the use of resources.
“Mr. Patel, these planes are not yours. They are the property of the U.S. Government and are paid for by the American people,” Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin and California Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, wrote in a letter to Patel in December.
https://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/politics/2026/02/24/kash-patel-hockey-celebration-vrtl-vpx.cnn.m3u8
Patel and the FBI have defended the use of FBI aircraft, saying that he is complying with federal law that requires reimbursing the government the cost of commercial airline tickets for his personal travel. Critics note that the cost of operating the FBI aircraft costs tens of thousands of dollars, far exceeding a commercial ticket reimbursement.
For his visit to Italy for the Olympics last week, the FBI disputed a CBS News report that Patel was traveling to cheer on the men’s hockey team and cited numerous meetings he was scheduled to have.
A person briefed on the trip told CNN said the visit to Italy included law enforcement meetings and official agreement signings, and had been long planned, well before the US hockey team had made it to the final round of competition.
In past years, the FBI has dispatched agents to observe Olympics security preparations. Recent FBI directors haven’t personally traveled for those preparations.
Still, when Patel surfaced at the men’s hockey final, there was little surprise. Patel has played hockey for years and is known to be a fan. He turned up with hockey great Wayne Gretzky for games where Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin tied and surpassed Gretzky’s all-time goals record.
Inside the FBI, Patel’s conduct has divided some employees. Some applaud Patel’s embrace of bro culture, and his frequent rallying and boosting of their work. Others criticize the director’s wearing of an FBI badge, despite the fact he’s not an agent, and have found it embarrassing to see their leader swigging beer and using curse words in a viral hockey celebration video Sunday. Some are circulating AI-generated Youtube videos of Patel’s Olympics trip, including one where a fictionalized version of the FBI director is seen dancing and spraying Champagne around the locker room.
The video of Patel’s actual visit to the locker room, though, surfaced during in the hours after the game, as top officials were still working to assess safety issues for Americans in parts of Mexico, where cartel gunmen were roaming the streets setting fires to vehicles and buildings, according to a person briefed on the matter.
A senior FBI official says the director was receiving regular updates Sunday about the situation unfolding in Mexico and the FBI has continued to provide necessary support.
The FBI last year sought to obtain a new long-distance aircraft, according to government bidding proposal records.
The proposal said the FBI required an “ultra-long-range business jet to enable rapid, global transport of Department of Justice personnel in support of counterterrorism efforts, high-risk operations, and other sensitive missions.”
The request came amid a push by Dan Bongino, the former deputy FBI director, to also access to government aircraft because of security concerns. Typically, deputy FBI directors don’t automatically qualify for private plane travel.
Amid criticism over use of the jets, the Justice Department withdrew the request for proposals for a new plane about a month after it was issued. An FBI spokesman at the time said Bongino’s travel wasn’t the reason for the jet proposal.
Personal travel on the FBI jet is often met with criticism
Sen. Chuck Grassley for years has been a critic on the issue of using government jets for personal travel. The Iowa Republican wrote letters and excoriated former Attorney General Eric Holder and Wray for their use of the FBI aircraft. But at a hearing last fall where Democrats raised questions about Patel’s use of the plane, he took aim at Patel’s critics.
“I find it interesting that my Democratic colleagues seem to bring up your use of the Justice Department planes, yet my Democratic colleagues didn’t seem too interested about my oversight of Wray’s use of the plane,” he said. “I didn’t hear a peep. So, my Democratic colleagues need to be consistent.”
Holder, the former attorney general who was the subject of criticism from Grassley and other Republicans, says he is struck by the silence from the same Republicans on Patel’s travel. Holder says he still believes there’s a legitimate need for FBI directors to travel on government aircraft for emergency secure communications reasons. But he believes Patel is abusing the privilege.
Holder told CNN in an interview that during his time as attorney general he replaced his family trips abroad to go to Martha’s Vineyard instead.
“Can you imagine the clamor from Republicans if I used a government plane like Patel? All we get now is silence from them,” Holder said.
Federal agencies Olympics
