FBI Director Kash Patel was hammered Friday morning by MS NOW’s Hayes Brown over his “lavish lifestyle he seems to be enjoying” partly on the “taxpayer’s dime,” and the FBI director didn’t take kindly to the scathing critique.
As noted by Brown, Patel has “managed to find plenty of time for leisure to balance out the stress,” a claim supported by a number of reports. An internal schedule for Patel’s recent trip to Italy obtained by The New York Times revealed that long stretches of time were earmarked for things like “personal time” or “cultural activities.”
The image accompanying Brown's op-ed shows Patel standing beside an expensive BMW, a golf bag, snorkeling gear, an FBI jet and a jet ski – each a nod to the leisure activities he's reportedly indulged in since taking over the bureau.
After apparently having seen the op-ed, Patel expressed outrage in a social media post and lashed out at the outlet.
“Nah, my jet ski is gold plated….dumba--,” Patel wrote in a social media post on X to his more than 1.4 million followers. “Your job is to lie. Mine is to protect the American people, and business is good!”
While Patel only directly responded to the op-ed’s reference to his “jet ski trips,” Brown also noted that the FBI director’s “lavish lifestyle” could soon make him a target for Republicans.
“He runs the risk of becoming a lightning rod, drawing down the wrath of every frustrated Republican who knows it’s much easier to savage the people around Trump than aiming at the president himself,” Brown wrote.
Patel, 46, has been accused of using an FBI jet to see his country music performer girlfriend Alexis Wilkins, 27, perform in Nashville, Tennessee. He’s also been scrutinized for having used an FBI jet to attend the Olympics in Italy and taking secret snorkeling trips in Hawaii.
Nah, my jet ski is gold plated….dumbass.
Your job is to lie. Mine is to protect the American people, and business is good! pic.twitter.com/iAX2dX3ocT
— Kash Patel (@Kash_Patel) July 10, 2026