SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
That, US Navy Seals used two boats to carry and chauffeur Patel and nine other people on what a US Defence Department message called a “VIP Snorkel” next to one of the government’s most sacred sites, the marine monument of the USS Arizona that holds the remains of more than 900 military sailors and marines who died at Pearl Harbour.
Patel reportedly swam in the area of the monument for 30 days.
Out of respect for the dead filled in the disaster of the Arizona, regulations bar visitors yet from wearing clothing at the monument. The only individuals permitted in the waters near the tomb are military and National Park Service fishermen interring the remains of the last Arizona survivors in the disaster, according to a previous military officer and a former National Park Service official who are aware of the restrictions at the page.
Officials from the navy and the Defence Department said VIP” tours” near the Arizona were common, but they declined to say how often they took people snorkelling. A representative for the navy declined to identify the nine individuals who had accompany Patel on the trip. The FBI said Admiral Samuel J. Paparo Jr, head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, had invited Patel to Pearl Harbour.
Through a Freedom of Information Act request and a source of information former FBI official, The New York Times obtained details about the Pearl Harbour trip. Patel’s participation in the snorkelling trip was reported earlier by The Associated Press.
The idea of a high-level government official taking a swim close to the tomb by an escort from Seals was “horrifying,” said William M. McBride, a veteran of the US navy and professor emeritus of history at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
” This is a war grave with the same legal status as Arlington National Cemetery”, McBride said in an interview. Snorkeling in Arizona is” as disrespectful as playing kickball on top of Arlington’s graves”
The Pearl Harbour trip was at the end of an itinerary in which Patel visited FBI facilities in Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. The disclosure of the snorkeling tour and additional information about other trips he has taken comes as Patel is already under investigation for allegedly blending leisure travel with official business or ordering FBI employees to arrange accommodations for him and his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins.
This article is based on interviews with more than a dozen current and former FBI and law enforcement agents, as well as people familiar with Patel’s travel plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from Patel or because they were not authorised to speak publicly. Additionally, the article draws inspiration from flight records and other sources.
Bipartisan scrutiny
The use of government aircraft and FBI agents for themselves and Wilkins has drawn a wide range of criticism and raised questions, even within the Trump administration, about whether it goes against the law.
” The badge is a responsibility, not a VIP pass”, said RobD’Amico, a former FBI special agent and hostage rescue team operator. The pattern with Patel was obvious, he said, “without exceptions, no one could ever get exclusive access to exotic locations, and a support staff working overtime to make it happen.”
FBI policy requires its directors to use government planes for all air travel, personal as well as professional. The FBI claimed Patel had paid for private travel and that the director was required to reimburse the government for economy travel.
But in his travels on FBI aircraft, Patel has made time for side trips, including to VIP suites for events, leisure activities or nights out with his girlfriend. The FBI declined to disclose who paid for one of those evenings out, a previously unreported trip with Wilkins to a country music concert in Philadelphia, where they flew on a Gulfstream V government jet and were spotted in a private suite that rents for more than US35, 000 ($ 48, 900 ).
Before taking office, Patel repeatedly criticised his predecessor, Christopher Wray, for his use of government jets for private travel. Chris Wray doesn’t need a government-funded GV jet to take a vacation, Patel told a 2023 interviewer. ” Maybe we ground that plane”.
Without providing specifics, the FBI claimed that Patel made fewer personal trips per year on average than Wray.
As the Times reported in February, the FBI has justified Wilkins ‘ full-time security detail by citing death threats she has received. In a statement from his office, Patel said,” Alexis receives constant, serious threats.”
Acting Attorney-General Todd Blanche said in his own statement on Thursday ( US time ) that “director Patel and his loved ones should not have their lives threatened”. According to him, the Justice Department “fully supports protecting director Patel’s partner in light of the constant threats against her.”
Previous FBI directors ‘ spouses and family members had not received full-time government security or transport, and neither do the families of other cabinet-level appointees and members of Congress.
Patel has faced lawsuits and widespread criticism from both current and former employees as a result of his tenure as director. Purges of agents deemed insufficiently loyal or to have participated in US President Donald Trump’s investigations have been a part of his tenure. A dozen former and current FBI agents characterised Patel’s personal travel and protection and perks for his girlfriend as a breach of ethics rules and an embarrassing distraction as the agency works to thwart domestic threats, including ones related to the war in Iran.
The FBI launched an investigation into a New York Times reporter ‘ article about Patel’s offer of government travel and security for Wilkins this northern spring. The Justice Department determined there was no legal basis to proceed with the investigation, according to a person briefed on the matter.
Patel has also caused bureau employees to flee. Field offices in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Albany, Tampa, New Orleans, Salt Lake City and several other cities are seeking to fill empty slots.
” Anyone who can retire has or is, and the rest are counting the days,” said ChristopherO’Leary, a former senior executive in the FBI’s counterterrorism division.
Jetting to a concert
Patel and Wilkins traveled from Washington to Philadelphia last May 10 for a performance by George Strait and Chris Stapleton, which was a popular choice for fans of country music. Patel and Wilkins flew there on the FBI’s Gulfstream V jet.
According to three people with knowledge of their trip, including an FBI employee who happened to be at the concert and saw them, Patel and Wilkins saw the performance from a private suite at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field. The suite sold for$ US35, 000 to$ US50, 000 for that show, according to a person who has booked those accommodations in the past.
Patel and Wilkins were contacted by FBI spokesman Ben Williamson with questions about the source of the funds. Williamson said Wilkins was” an invited guest” of the performers, whose representatives did not respond to multiple inquiries seeking confirmation.
The badge is a responsibility, not a VIP pass.RobD’Amico, former FBI special agent
The couple was waiting for the flight crew and detail until 11 p.m. when they were flown on the jet back to Manassas, Virginia, where they were paid overtime.
After his confirmation as FBI director last year, Patel began directing agents from field offices around the country to provide Wilkins with SWAT team security in her personal travels. Four SWAT agents and two SUVs were assigned to guard and transport her on personal errands, and he moved agents from other field offices to Nashville, Tennessee, where she lives.
A former senior official who has hired such agents said Wilkins ‘ Nashville detail – two SUVs and four agents – cost about$ US1 million a year, with additional overtime, vehicle and other expenses.
According to FBI officials, Patel should seek legal review and a threat assessment to determine whether a girlfriend in another city should have this level of security. Patel berated one of them, saying his authority was all that was needed, according to three people briefed on the incident.
Williamson disputed the claim that director Patel allegedly ordered agents to do any improper things or berated them.
A closed-door meeting
Since Patel traveled to Italy on a government jet during the Winter Games in February and received criticism for drinking beer and dancing in the locker room with the US men’s hockey team that won the gold medal, he has tried to improve his standing with the president.
Posts from Patel’s official X account praise Trump and promote FBI achievements and Patel’s interviews with friendly media. According to an FBI agent who was credited with compiling the statistics, Patel gave evidence in testimony last week at a Senate hearing that included statistics that credited the FBI with making up the statistics for declines in urban murder rates and child predator arrests, which are both under the control of state and local police departments, not the FBI.
He has continued to bring Wilkins on some of his recent travels.
Republican senator David McCormick invited Patel and top federal and state law enforcement officials to Allentown, Pennsylvania, for a closed-door meeting on preventing the trafficking of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians, in early April.
Patel brought along Wilkins, who sat at the head of the table with Patel and top FBI officials as they discussed strategy and heard emotional testimony from families whose children died from overdoses. Some attendees, one of whom inquired about Williams ‘ role, were perplexed by her presence. In an emailed statement, McCormick said he had invited Patel, but the FBI said he had invited Wilkins, too.
Wilkins informed the Times that she had been contacted about the meeting and that she had been there because” I work with fentanyl and angel families.” Wilkins is a spokeswoman for the American Border Story, a conservative group that, in support of the Trump administration’s deportation agenda, publicises fentanyl deaths and crimes committed by migrants.
The South Pacific tour, which ended with the Pearl Harbour swim last summer, had begun with Patel making a trip to the FBI’s Honolulu field office earlier in the week.
From Hawaii, Patel flew to Australia and New Zealand, where he opened an FBI satellite office. Patel and the police commissioner, Richard Chambers, went for a run and a swim in Wellington’s harbor on his final morning in New Zealand. The moment was later covered by local media. The two were swimming while a tsunami advisory was being reported.
Patel then returned to Hawaii to snorkel near the Arizona.
This article first appeared in The New York Times.
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