Count current and former FBI officials among those who were appalled watching FBI Director Kash Patel chugging beer and partying with the Olympic hockey team in Italy, as if he had some part in their 2-1 overtime victory over Canada.
According to MS NOW’s Ken Dilanian, Patel claimed he had important business in Italy, and it was just a coincidence that the Winter Olympics, awarded to Milan in 2019, happened to be running concurrently.
Speaking with Ana Cabrera, Dilanian asserted no one is buying the embattled FBI director’s story.
“He said he had official meetings and he did have official meetings,” the MS NOW reporter explained. “But when those videos began to emerge last night showing him celebrating in the locker room, that really underscored that whatever else he was doing, he definitely went there to watch the U.S. try to win and ultimately win the gold medal.”
“And that really rubbed a lot of people the wrong way,” he continued. “And there was another exchange. Patel himself screen-shotted a post by my colleague Carol Leonnig underscoring what happened, why he was at the hockey game and suggesting that it was inappropriate to even mention that because he also had official visits. None of this, none of this, is going over well with current and former FBI officials.”
He pointed out, “Look, Kash Patel is a controversial figure. A lot of people don't like him anyway. I have never seen the kind of disgust from current and former FBI officials, as we are hearing about and seeing in response to his, what they are calling, his antics in the locker room. And this is from people who normally support Patel and Donald Trump,” he observed.
He added, “People chug beer and celebrate all the time after championship wins, but not the FBI director. That's just not how any previous FBI director has ever behaved. Some are even pointing out that technically, FBI agents are not supposed to drink alcohol while on duty. So did he violate some kind of code there?”