If Donald Trump thinks he is our king, his courtiers think they are royalty, entitled to a luxury lifestyle funded by the government. Chief of these perks is flying around the world on luxury private jets paid for with our tax dollars. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem is probably the worst offender, but FBI Director Kash Patel grabbed the most recent headlines.
The New York Times provides an analysis:
The F.B.I. director Kash Patel’s four-day trip to Italy—culminating in a celebratory beer swig with the U.S. hockey team at the Milan Olympics—included several hours of work meetings, a handful of meet-and-greets, hours of down time, private meals and “cultural activities,” according to an internal schedule obtained by The New York Times.
The taxpayer-funded visit to the Games reignited the firestorm over Mr. Patel’s use of government resources, which intensified on Tuesday when Senate Democrats aired new allegations against the director, citing an anonymous whistle-blower inside the Trump administration.
Mr. Patel has fiercely defended his Italy trip, saying it was scheduled months ago and necessary to fortify his relationship with the F.B.I.’s European partners. He has questioned his critics’ love of hockey, and suggested they were insufficiently stoked by the U.S. team’s gold medal victory. …
Mr. Patel has offered comparable explanations when pressed on his decision to provide SWAT team protection for his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, a country singer and right-wing activist, as well as for his heavy use of federal resources for travel that has at times appeared to blur professional lines.
Last summer, he flew on a government jet from the Washington area to Inverness, Scotland, for a getaway with friends, including former Navy SEALs, at the Carnegie Club, an exclusive golf resort. He has also taken flights, at taxpayer expense, to a private hunting ranch in Texas and to a wrestling match in State College, Pa., to watch a performance by Ms. Wilkins.
For security reasons, the FBI director has to travel on government jets. But much of Patel’s travel seems oriented around his own leisure activities and luxury lifestyle—the perks of being a member of the royal court—rather than the vital business of the American people.
The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.
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