Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe dismissed a video of FBI Director Kash Patel partying with the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team and called the decision to fly to Italy using the office’s plane “completely inappropriate.”

On Monday’s episode of CNN’s “The Lead,” host Jack Tapper said he knows “Republicans on Capitol Hill are embarrassed” by Patel’s controversial trip to the Winter Olympics.

Although FBI spokesmen have maintained that Patel was in Milan for security meetings, McCabe did not believe it.

“I mean, the video is ridiculous and it was completely inappropriate for him to be attractive,” McCabe told Tapper. “Let’s be honest. The excuse that he had to attend safety meetings the day before the games ended is patently ridiculous.”

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Patel reportedly used an FBI plane to watch the final days of the Milan Cortina Games and joined the US team in the locker room after winning the gold medal over Canada.

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The FBI director was not a fan of using government planes for personal travel before he got the job.

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Critics were unhappy with what Trump said about inviting the women winners to the White House after they defeated rival Canada, just like the men.

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McCabe then recalled how former FBI Director Robert Mueller had visited Greece to make security arrangements for the 2004 Summer Games in Athens eight months before the event.

“That’s when you make the kind of details and arrangements that an FBI director needs to evaluate to make sure others understand the role of the office and that kind of thing,” he said. “It’s not the day of the last hockey game.”

McCabe said Patel’s trip sent a “horrible, horrible message to the FBI’s rank and file” at a time when the bureau had its plate full with a high-profile investigation into the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie and possible military action against Iran.

“Now, having been in that position before, I can tell you that when you are on the brink of hostilities with a country that sponsors terrorism, the FBI is using a microscope – or should be – to go through all of their records and find Iranian sleeper agents in the United States,” McCabe said.

FBI Director Kash Patel watches the final hockey game between the Canadian and United States men's teams on Sunday during the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
FBI Director Kash Patel watches the final hockey game between the Canadian and United States men’s teams on Sunday during the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Elsa via Getty Images

In a message posted on Sunday X, Patel defended his time drinking beer and partying with Team USA’s hockey squad.

“…Yes, I love America and I was so honored when my friends, the newly elected Team USA Gold Medal winners, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the guys,” he wrote. “The greatest country in the world and the greatest sport in the world.”

According to a report by MS NOW, Patel’s trip cost taxpayers up to $75,000.

Patel’s use of FBI resources for what appear to be personal matters has been a cause of concern before. Last year, he gained attention for using the office plane to travel to Pennsylvania to see his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, perform at a wrestling event.