FBI Director Kash Patel participated in a private “VIP snorkel” session over the USS Arizona during a trip to Hawaii last summer, according to government emails obtained by the Associated Press.
The outing, which was reportedly coordinated by the military but omitted from official FBI news releases, took place at the sunken battleship where more than 900 sailors and Marines remain entombed.
The site commemorates the December 7, 1941, surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which drew the U.S. into World War II and remains one of the deadliest days in American history.
The FBI previously highlighted Patel’s walking tour of the Honolulu field office and meetings with local law enforcement, but the records show he returned to Hawaii for two additional days following his initial stopover.
The revelation follows ongoing criticism regarding Patel’s use of government resources and the FBI plane for travel that critics argue mixes professional duties with leisure.
“It fits a pattern of Director Patel getting tangled up in unseemly distractions — this time at a site commemorating the second deadliest attack in U.S. history — instead of staying laser-focused on keeping Americans safe,” Stacey Young, founder of Justice Connection, told the outlet.
The USS Arizona is a military cemetery reachable only by boat and remains one of the nation’s most revered sites.
Snorkeling and diving are generally prohibited, with exceptions made for National Park Service crews and marine archaeologists conducting surveys, according to the AP.
Since the Obama administration, the Navy and the Park Service have occasionally allowed a small number of dignitaries and officials to swim at the site, though the Navy declined to provide a list of those who have been granted access.
Former government officials told the publication that no FBI director since at least 1993 has gone snorkeling at the memorial. A former government diver, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unusual for anyone not connected to the memorial to be granted such access due to the safety, security and logistical challenges involved.
Former FBI Director James Comey addressed the reports in an interview Thursday on CNN, expressing disbelief at the idea of an agency head swimming at the site.
“You said snorkeling?” Comey asked, noting that although he had visited the memorial, he never entered the water.
“I think when you’re FBI director you have a responsibility to represent not just yourself but 38,000 people and an idea, an American idea that’s respected around the world,” Comey said.
The FBI told the AP in a statement that regional commanders hosted Patel at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam “as they commonly do with U.S. government officials on official travel.”
A spokesperson said the visit “was part of the Director’s public national security engagements last August with counterparts in New Zealand, Australia, our Honolulu Field Office, and the Department of War.”
The Independent has reached out to the FBI and the White House for comment.
Capt. Jodie Cornell, a Navy spokesperson, confirmed the excursion but said the service could not identify who initiated the request. Participants were told “not to touch/come into contact with” the wreck and were briefed on the significance of the site as a tomb, the AP reported.
The National Park Service, which manages the site with the Navy, told the outlet it had not been involved in the swim and declined to comment further.
Hack Albertson, a Marine veteran who dives on the Arizona annually to check its condition, said the use of the site by political figures was inappropriate.
“It’s like having a bachelor party at a church,” he told the AP. “It’s hallowed ground. It needs to be treated with the solemnity it deserves.”
The snorkeling trip reportedly occurred as Patel was returning from Australia and New Zealand. Flight tracking data for the FBI’s Gulfstream G550 shows the jet stayed in Hawaii for two nights before flying to Las Vegas, Patel’s hometown.
The trip to New Zealand also faced backlash after Patel reportedly gifted replica 3D-printed pistols to local officials that are illegal to possess under New Zealand law.
Patel’s tenure has been marked by several other controversies, including the use of the FBI plane. Investigations have probed instances where the aircraft was used to transport his girlfriend to various locations.
Earlier this year, video emerged of Patel in a locker room with the U.S. men’s hockey team in Milan following their Olympic gold medal win. Patel defended the trip this week as “purposely planned” to assist a cybercrime investigation.
The director also faces lingering questions regarding a defamation case he filed against The Atlantic and allegations regarding his conduct and alcohol consumption.
Patel’s testimony before Congress this week was marked by frequent clashes with lawmakers. During a tense exchange with Senator Chris Van Hollen regarding reports of excessive drinking, Patel angrily dismissed the allegations and instead accused the senator of drinking on the taxpayer’s dime during a past trip to El Salvador, which he denies.
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