How Can Republicans Defend Kash Patel's Outrageous Private Plane Usage?

"Agents with the FBI's elite evidence response team were delayed in reaching the scene of a mass shooting at Brown University in December because there was no FBI plane available to take them to Rhode Island, according to three sources and a whistleblower's account newly provided to Congress. FBI Director Kash Patel was in south Florida at the time with one of the FBI's two available jets and had given an order to hold the other for another team that would not normally respond to the scene."

"The evidence response team instead had to drive through the night amid a snowstorm to reach the university in Providence, Rhode Island, by 9 o'clock the next morning, according to the whistleblower's account. Patel had been flown in one of the FBI's two jets to south Florida and was there on Dec. 13, the day of the shooting, and didn't fly back until the afternoon of Dec. 14."

"According to Durbin - and multiple sources who spoke to MS NOW - Patel's frequent use of the plane for ostensibly personal travel has left the FBI struggling to deploy for emergency assignments when teams need access to a government plane quickly."

FBI agents with the elite evidence response team were delayed in responding to a mass shooting at Brown University in December because both available FBI jets were unavailable. Director Kash Patel was in south Florida using one jet for a personal visit to his elderly parents, while he ordered the second jet held for another team that would not normally respond to the scene. The evidence response team was forced to drive through the night during a snowstorm to reach Providence, Rhode Island by the next morning. According to sources and whistleblower accounts provided to Congress, Patel's frequent personal use of government planes has created operational challenges for emergency deployments requiring rapid aircraft access.

Read at Esquire