FBI Director Kash Patel has been riding around in a luxury armored BMW vehicle paid for with taxpayer funds.
President Donald Trump's pick to lead the bureau has been asking for the specially armored BMW X5s because he believes they would be less conspicuous than the Chevrolet Suburbans other FBI directors have been driven in, four sources familiar with his transportation told MS NOW.
“Government agencies, including the FBI, routinely evaluate, replace and update vehicle fleets based on usage, security needs or budgetary decisions,” said FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson, who confirmed the purchase. “The specific decisions referenced in this article were evaluated partly as a way to save taxpayers millions by picking cheaper selections or making cost structures more efficient.”
Williamson said the bureau had planned to acquire updated vehicles but declined to provide documentation that showed the BMWs were less expensive than the Chevrolets, and his critics say the new vehicle is another example of Patel's questionable spending of public money after using the FBI’s Gulfstream jet to see his girlfriend perform a concert and other personal travel.
“He needs a field jacket that fits just right, a ‘Punisher’-inspired challenge coin and a new fleet of foreign cars to drive around in,” said Stacey Young, a former Justice Department official who founded Justice Connection network of former DOJ employees.
MS NOW also reported, according to four sources, that Patel had asked the FBI earlier this year to purchase a new, more modern FBI jet for him to use, but that request was shot down over cost estimates that were between $90 million and $115 million.
Patel then asked for the communications equipment to be upgraded on the existing Gulfstream jet, two sources said, adding that he needed more reliable internet on board so multiple people could post on social media at the same time, but a person close to the director denied that.
“It wasn’t for social media," that person said. "He rarely, if ever, posts on social media himself. It was because we had multiple secure comms calls both scheduled and unscheduled that were dropping on official travel and we needed to fix it.”