Zachary LeemanMay 12th, 2026, 5:03 pm

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) asked FBI Director Kash Patel during a Tuesday hearing how a beer-chugging trip to the Olympics helped in his mission and what exactly it cost American taxpayers.

At a Senate hearing, Coons asked Patel about his viral trip, from which a video of the FBI director pounding a beer after Team USA’s victory over Canada went viral.

Patel said he kept a separate mission “quiet” and purposefully timed it around the Olympics.

“Hs I mentioned in my opening, the top cyber criminal from the [Chinese Communist Party] was housed in Italian custody. That while there we were able to work an agreement, an arrangement to have that individual expelled from Italy instead of going back to China, like has so often happened in places like Serbia. And so we accomplished that mission and we kept it quiet and that individual was returned to America two weeks ago,” he said.

Check out the exchange below:

CHRIS COONS: Director, I have to ask you one last question. You attended the Olympics in Milan. How much did your trip cost? And to what extent did that help you carry out your mission as director of the FBI?

KASH PATEL: I greatly appreciate the question, senator. As you know, the FBI and [Department of Homeland Security] are responsible for the security of the Olympics, the World Cup, the F1, the Super Bowl, and everything else. We had 250,000 Americans travel to Milan. We’re proud that we stood up our jock there and had zero major security incidences involving American citizens. And what we did was we purposely planned that trip around the Olympics because, as I mentioned in my opening, the top cyber criminal from the [Chinese Communist Party] was housed in Italian custody. That while there we were able to work an agreement, an arrangement to have that individual expelled from Italy instead of going back to China, like has so often happened in places like Serbia. And so we accomplished that mission and we kept it quiet and that individual was returned to America two weeks ago.

Watch above CSPAN.

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