Kash Patel's Hawaii Trip with ‘VIP Snorkel’ at Pearl Harbor Memorial Invites Criticism: ‘Bachelor Party in a Church’
Military officials coordinated the rare swim, which critics say blurred official travel with leisure and raised concerns about government resource use.
- Last summer, FBI Director Kash Patel participated in an undisclosed 'VIP snorkel' around the USS Arizona Memorial during a Hawaii trip, an excursion coordinated by military officials. The sunken battleship entombs more than 900 sailors and Marines who died at Pearl Harbor.
- Patel's excursion followed an itinerary that included visits to FBI facilities in Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand. Officials from the Navy and Defense Department said such VIP tours near the Arizona were common as part of national security engagements.
- Navy and National Park Service rules bar visitors from wearing swimwear at the memorial out of respect for the dead; exceptions exist for dignitaries. Critics described the recreational swim near a war grave as 'horrifying,' equating it to disrespect toward Arlington National Cemetery.
- Internal emails obtained by The Associated Press revealed the FBI failed to disclose the snorkeling trip, intensifying bipartisan criticism of Patel's use of government resources. A dozen former and current FBI agents characterized the travel and perks for his partner, Alexis Wilkins, as an ethical breach.
- Patel's tenure has faced ongoing scrutiny over his use of government jets for trips with Wilkins and attendance at sporting events, including a Winter Olympics locker room visit in February. He has defended such activities as 'purposely planned' in connection with official business.
14 Articles
14 Articles
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Snorkeling at Pearl Harbor: Kash Patel’s travels add to focus on ethical issues
Last summer, FBI Director Kash Patel capped a whirlwind South Pacific trip with a snorkel trip in Hawaii. The post Snorkeling at Pearl Harbor: Kash Patel’s travels add to focus on ethical issues appeared first on Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
Kash Patel faces ethics scrutiny over Pearl Harbor snorkel trip
Last summer, FBI Director Kash Patel capped a whirlwind South Pacific trip with a snorkel trip in Hawaii. There, Navy SEALs used two boats to transport and escort Patel and nine other people on what a Defense Department email called a “V.I.P. Snorkel” next to one of the military’s most sacred sites, the underwater tomb of the USS Arizona that holds the remains of more than 900 Navy sailors and Marines who died at Pearl Harbor. Patel swam in the …
Kash Patel, director of the FBI, practiced snorkeling in a site considered to be of high historical value and of enormous respect where it is usually restricted to entering.
Snorkeling Over the Dead Sailors of the USS Arizona
Republished with permission from Steve Schmidt On the morning of December 7, 1941, the USS Arizona was struck by Japanese bombs during the opening moments of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The explosion was catastrophic. A bomb pierced the battleship near its forward ammunition magazines. Seconds later, the ship erupted in a violent inferno that tore through steel, flesh and seawater with apocalyptic force. More than 1,100 American sailors and Mari…
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