Kash Patel Had 'VIP Snorkel' at Pearl Harbor Memorial

When Kash Patel visited Hawaii last summer, the FBI took pains to note the director was not on vacation, highlighting his walking tour of the bureau's Honolulu field office and meetings with local law enforcement. Left out of the FBI's news releases was an exclusive excursion that Patel took days later when he participated in what government officials described as a "VIP snorkel" around the USS Arizona in an outing coordinated by the military, the AP reports. The sunken battleship entombs more than 900 sailors and Marines at Pearl Harbor.

The swim, revealed in government emails obtained by the AP, comes to light amid criticism over Patel's use of the FBI plane and his global travel that has blended professional responsibilities with leisure activities. The FBI did not disclose the snorkeling session or that Patel had returned to Hawaii for two days after his initial stopover on the island.

• "It fits a pattern of Director Patel getting tangled up in unseemly distractions—this time at a site commemorating the second deadliest attack in US history—instead of staying laser-focused on keeping Americans safe," says Stacey Young, who founded Justice Connection, a network of former federal prosecutors and agents who advocate for the Department of Justice's independence.
• With few exceptions, snorkeling and diving are off-limits around the USS Arizona. The battleship, now a military cemetery reachable only by boat, has stood as one of the nation's most hallowed sites since Japan bombed and sank it in 1941. Marine archaeologists and crews from the National Park Service make occasional dives at the memorial to survey the condition of the wreck. Other dives have been conducted to inter the remains of Arizona survivors who wanted to rest eternally with their former shipmates.

• Still, since at least the Obama administration, the Navy and the park service have quietly allowed a handful of dignitaries, including military and government officials responsible for management of the memorial, to swim at the site. The Navy and park service declined to provide details of those permitted to take such excursions.
• Former FBI directors have visited Pearl Harbor on official business, but none going back to at least 1993 have gone snorkeling at the memorial, according to those familiar with their activities and a former government diver who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. The diver said it was unusual for a director or anyone not connected to the memorial to be granted such access because the swims come with physical risks and present security, safety, and logistical challenges.
• Patel's excursion was in August as he spent two days in Hawaii on his return to the United States from official visits to Australia and New Zealand. On his way to those countries, he stopped in Hawaii to visit the Honolulu field office.
• It was not clear how Patel's snorkeling session was arranged. A Navy spokesperson, Capt. Jodie Cornell, confirmed the outing but said the service was not able to track down who initiated it. Participants in Patel's swim were told "not to touch/come into contact with" the sunken ship in any way, Cornell said. She added that the snorkelers were also briefed about "the historic significance of the Memorial as the final resting place/tomb for hundreds of service members."
• Hack Albertson, a Marine veteran, is part of a select group from the Paralyzed Veterans of America trained to dive on the Arizona annually to check on the condition of the wreck. He says it was inappropriate for Patel and other political figures to snorkel or dive at the memorial. "It's like having a bachelor party at a church. It's hallowed ground," he says. "It needs to be treated with the solemnity it deserves."
• Some family members of Pearl Harbor survivors said they were not bothered by such official excursions, though some expressed a desire to also be permitted to snorkel at the site. They said they have not been permitted to do so.