FBI Director Kash Patel has published a letter assuring the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee that he has reimbursed the agency for all personal travel and expenses.
Patel’s letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), dated July 20, was posted by the FBI on Monday, the day before the director testifies to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Patel wrote that he has saved taxpayers millions of dollars through a variety of efficiencies.
In May, Grassley wrote to Patel asking about the director’s use of government aircraft, the purchase of a fleet of luxury BMW vehicles, and whether he has reimbursed taxpayers for personal travel.
On July 9, two senior Democrats—U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee—launched a joint investigation into Patel’s alleged misuse of taxpayer-funded resources, after learning of Grassley’s letter.
“We write in light of the growing number of credible public reports and non-public sources identifying episodes of your misuse and mismanagement of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) resources,” the ranking members wrote at the time.
“This abuse obviously comes at the expense of the American taxpayer and ongoing Bureau operations as it ties up Bureau aircraft, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams, and agents in ways so outrageous that even congressional Republicans can no longer ignore them.”
‘Fully Compliant’
In his letter, Patel said that an FBI director is prohibited—like many senior government officials—from flying on commercial airlines, adding that all his air travel was fully compliant with Executive Branch requirements and policies.
Patel said he made a fraction of the personal trips annually than previous FBI directors. He also noted that the agency’s fleet of new BMWs, purchased to replace aging Chevrolet Suburbans, was significantly less expensive than other options.
He concluded the letter by taking aim at some Democrats, who he said were advancing political narratives under the pretext of constitutional oversight.
“It should be noted — some of your colleagues have used the pretext of constitutional oversight to advance their baseless political narratives,” he wrote.
“It is exceedingly obvious they choose to do this simply because they despise the fact that the Trump Administration and this FBI have delivered historic, record-breaking crime reductions for America — and they would rather focus on partisan politics than acknowledge the achievements safeguarding our nation.”
The Epoch Times reached out to Raskin and Durbin for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
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