FBI Director Kash Patel is facing renewed scrutiny after reports emerged that he participated in a snorkeling excursion around the USS Arizona memorial during a trip to Hawaii last summer. The outing, first reported by the Associated Press, involved a so-called “VIP snorkel” around the sunken battleship, which holds the remains of more than 1,000 U.S. Navy sailors and Marines who perished during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Details of the Excursion
According to government emails obtained by the AP, the excursion occurred in August during a two-day stop in Hawaii as Patel was returning to the United States from official visits to Australia and New Zealand. Patel had also visited the FBI’s Honolulu field office earlier in the trip. The outing was coordinated by the military, and the New York Times later reported that nine other individuals joined Patel on the tour. The Navy confirmed that the FBI director swam in the vicinity of the tomb for approximately 30 minutes.
Response from the FBI
In response to the initial AP report, an FBI spokesperson accused the outlet of “attempting to spin an invitation from the Commanding General of Indo Pacom to a military base as a party or vacation, which is so stupid.” The spokesperson added that the Department of Defense “routinely does these engagements with interagency partners” and noted that when Patel served as chief of staff at the Department of Defense during the first Trump administration, he “offered the same event for many partners that came to visit.” The spokesperson emphasized, “It’s a historical tour to honor heroes who died on the USS Arizona – not a party.”
The FBI further stated to the AP that top regional commanders hosted Patel at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam “as they commonly do with US government officials on official travel.” The bureau described the Pearl Harbor visit as 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.” Additionally, the FBI told the Times that Patel was invited to Pearl Harbor by Adm. Samuel J. Paparo Jr., head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
Precedent and Controversy
Navy and Defense Department officials told the Times that VIP “tours” near the USS Arizona are common, though they declined to specify how often snorkeling is permitted. The Navy spokesperson also declined to identify the nine individuals who accompanied Patel. According to the AP, marine archaeologists and National Park Service crews occasionally dive at the memorial to monitor the wreck’s condition, and other dives have been conducted to inter the remains of surviving USS Arizona crew members. Since at least the Obama administration, a limited number of military and government officials connected to the memorial’s management have been allowed to swim at the site. A former government diver told the AP that past participants have included Navy admirals, defense secretaries, and interior secretaries, with the tours intended to provide insights into the memorial and its operations.
However, the AP noted that no former FBI director dating back to at least 1993 is known to have snorkeled at the memorial. Former FBI Director James Comey, in an interview with CNN, commented on the reports: “You said snorkeling? I visited the Pearl Harbor memorial with the admiral in charge of the Pacific command on a Navy boat, never got in the water, so I don’t know. 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. That’s a burden; you’re always on duty, you’re always being watched, and I knew that the whole time.”
Broader Scrutiny
The snorkeling incident adds to existing scrutiny over Patel’s mixing of leisure travel with official business. The FBI and military officials have defended the outing as a standard interagency engagement, but critics argue that the director’s actions were inappropriate given the solemn nature of the site. Neither the Navy nor the National Park Service immediately responded to requests for comment on how often swimming around the USS Arizona is permitted.
