Kash Patel Spotted Celebrating in U.S. Olympic Hockey Team’s Locker Room

FBI Director Kash Patel was spotted celebrating in the U.S. Olympic hockey team’s locker room Sunday following a gold-medal winning performance that saw the American squad beat Canada, 2-1, in overtime.

CBS News and MS NOW previously reported that Patel used a Justice Department jet to travel to Italy with plans to watch the men’s hockey game, but the bureau quickly denied the story, suggesting he was only traveling to conduct official business. Assistant FBI Director of Public Affairs Ben Williamson, in one of several posts on X, said Patel was in Italy visiting the Milan Joint Operations Center, where a group of American officials have been deployed to assist with security.

“[I] have yet to receive any follow up from CBS or MS NOW who purposefully misled people to think Kash was flying to Italy to hang out at the Olympics,” Williamson posted Saturday, before footage of Patel celebrating with Team USA began circulating online.

Patel was briefly spotted Sunday in U.S. center Dylan Larkin’s Instagram livestream, celebrating with the team in the locker room after their gold-medal win.

In the now-deleted clip, Patel can be heard thanking the players “for representing the greatest country on earth.”

Patel later posted on X a collection of four photos of Sunday’s hockey game, including a selfie with team head coach Mike Sullivan in the locker room and a photo of himself with a group of players holding an American flag.

“Unity, Sacrifice, Attitude- what it takes to be the best in the world. These men live and breathe it,” Patel wrote in the post. “Thank you for representing the greatest country on earth, in the greatest game ever created.”

The FBI did not respond to a request for comment Sunday regarding Patel’s attendance at the game.

Patel’s overseas trip comes as the FBI is handling a number of high-profile cases, including the fatal shooting Sunday morning of an armed man who authorities said tried to enter President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla.

The FBI is also still looking for leads in the ongoing missing persons case of Nancy Guthrie, which is now entering its fourth week.Patel has previously come under scrutiny for his frequent use of FBI aircraft, including a number of trips to see his girlfriend, the country singer Alexis Wilkins, in Nashville.