YOU NEED TO KNOW
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FBI Director Kash Patel is facing criticism for buying new BMW SUVs for his personal transportation
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FBI personnel have historically been transported in Chevrolet Suburbans; however, Patel said he needed the luxury vehicles to look “less conspicuous”
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Patel has repeatedly made headlines for his use of government resources, including allegedly taking an FBI-owned jet to visit his girlfriend and reassigning SWAT members to serve as her security detail.
FBI Director Kash Patel is going against tradition by traveling in a luxury car instead of the department’s standard SUVs.
MS NOW reported on Monday, December 22, that Patel, 45, pressured the FBI to buy him a special, armored BMW X5, with sources saying he felt it made him “less visible on his outings”.
While the State Department contracts similar vehicles to transport foreign dignitaries in high-risk environments around the world, FBI personnel have traditionally driven in a Chevrolet Suburban.
FBI spokesman Ben Williamson confirmed the purchase of the X5s for Patel’s use, saying, “Government agencies, including the FBI, regularly evaluate, replace and upgrade vehicle fleets based on usage, security needs or budgetary decisions. The specific decisions mentioned in this article were evaluated in part as a way to save taxpayers millions by choosing cheaper structures or making more efficient cost structure selections.”
Stefan Sauer/press alliance via Getty
Black BMW X5 Protection VR6, similar to the one recently purchased by FBI director Kash Patel
The FBI, however, did not provide documents showing the cost of the new vehicle, prove that it was more cost-effective than using the pre-existing fleet of Suburbans, or explain why a new vehicle was needed. Public information about a fully equipped X5 is not available online; however, Car and Driver noted that a Cadillac Escalade similarly went for $350,000 in 2019.
The website for the BMW X5 Protection VR6 boasts that the vehicle “offers protection not only against attacks with instruments and blunt guns, but also against the most widely used firearm in the world, the AK-47.”
Patel’s purchase of expensive new vehicles is the latest use of government funds. In October, he came under fire for taking an FBI-owned jet to travel and watch his girlfriend, country music singer Alexis Wilkins, perform the national anthem at a Penn State University wrestling event.
The following month, MS NOW reported that the FBI director was using SWAT team members as a security detail for Wilkins. Typically, only the spouses of high-ranking FBI officials receive security protection during joint trips.
Former FBI agent Christopher O’Leary, now a law enforcement contributor at MS NOW, said at the time that there was “no legitimate justification” for Patel to divert law enforcement personnel to protect Wilkins.
“This is a clear abuse of position and misuse of government resources,” he continued, emphasizing that Wilkins “is not [Patel’s] spouse” and “do not live in the same house or even in the same city.” Wilkins lives in Nashville, while Patel has a home in Las Vegas and often travels to Washington, DC, for work.
MS NOW also reported that Patel requested the purchase of a new FBI jet earlier this year, but the proposal was “abandoned” due to cost estimates that were between $90 million and $115 million.
During a hearing in September, Vermont Senator Peter Welch asked Patel about his personal travel, saying, “By the way, every day FBI agents who are assigned to Washington don’t get to fly home on a private jet.” In response, Patel pointed out that Congress had made it “compulsory” for him to use private jets.
“Well, we didn’t make it mandatory to go to UFC games with Mel Gibson,” Welch replied, referring to a March MMA fight in Las Vegas that Patel attended. In April, the FBI director traveled to a New York charity hockey event, then returned to Washington, DC The following night, he returned to see the New York Islanders play the Washington Capitals in a luxury box along with Wayne Gretzky, according to CBS News.
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All this, despite the fact that Patel had previously been a vocal critic of the way his predecessor, Christopher Wray, traveled on the FBI jet. In a 2023 episode of his podcast Corner of KashPatel said he wanted to “land Chris Wray’s private jet travel that he pays for with taxpayer dollars to go around the country,” according to The Associated Press.
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