Left: Kash Patel drinks a beer in Italy (Various). Right: FBI Director Kash Patel listens during the Senate Committee on Intelligence hearings on Capitol Hill Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Washington (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana).
The Trump administration finds itself under scrutiny once again, this time accused of infringing upon the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A transparency-focused watchdog group has filed a lawsuit alleging that the administration is withholding records regarding FBI Director Kash Patel’s taxpayer-funded trip to Italy earlier this year.
The Democracy Defenders Fund lodged a comprehensive 15-page complaint in Washington, D.C.’s federal court on Tuesday, asserting that the FBI has not only missed statutory deadlines but also unlawfully withheld crucial agency records. These records are deemed essential for the public to evaluate whether Director Patel, who leads the primary investigative body in the United States, might be mismanaging or misusing government resources in breach of federal law.
This legal action is rooted in public reports concerning Patel’s travel, particularly his presence at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. The watchdog group, seeking clarity and transparency, attempted to utilize the country’s foremost transparency law but claims their efforts have been thwarted.
The initial FOIA request was filed in late February, with the plaintiffs requesting the FBI to provide documents spanning “eleven categories of records” connected to Patel’s visit to Milan. As part of their submission, the watchdog sought expedited processing, a waiver of fees, or recognition as “news media” to limit any costs to production expenses only.
The watchdog’s FOIA request was submitted in late February. The eventual plaintiffs asked for the FBI to collect “eleven categories of records” related to Patel’s Milan trip, according to the lawsuit.
In typical fashion, the watchdog also asked for expedited processing, a fee waiver, and, failing that, status as “news media” in order to avail itself of fees that are limited to production costs alone.
The FBI did not completely reject or even ignore all those requests.
Instead, the law enforcement agency “divided Plaintiff’s Request into nine tranches and assigned nine separate request numbers to Plaintiffs’ Request,” according to the lawsuit.
But since then, there’s largely been radio silence, the watchdog says.
“To date, Defendant has failed to make a determination or provide any responsive documents for eight of these request numbers,” the lawsuit reads. “Defendant failed to comply with the statutory deadline set forth under FOIA…Plaintiff respectfully asks the Court to compel the expeditious release of the requested agency records.”
Democracy Defenders aims to obtain “[a]ll travel authorizations or approvals for the use of government aircraft and any expenses related to the use of such aircraft in connection with” Patel’s trip to Italy — with a focus on “his attendance at the 2026 Winter Olympics.”
The FOIA request also asks whether “any blanket approval” was made under travel expenditure rules and if there was “any authorization or approval for any non-federal traveler to travel with” Patel.
The watchdog also wants the agency to release “[a]ny itinerary or agenda” prepared for Patel during his Italian trip — including “official, personal, and political meetings.”
The FOIA request further delves into the minutiae of government-subsidized travel for federal workers and seeks a number of relevant federal forms with alphabet soup-style nomenclature.
The group additionally wants to uncover “[a]ny briefing books or advance materials prepared for Director Patel’s meetings” with two U.S. ambassadors, one Italian billionaire and the coach of the men’s U.S. Olympic hockey team, according to the lawsuit.
The lengthy FOIA request goes on to ask for a litany of additional federal records, authorizations, decision-making documents, and communications regarding Patel’s public spending and travel to Italy.
Notably, the lawsuit contextualizes Patel’s out-of-country travel against the backdrop of several high-profile incidents involving federal law enforcement that occurred during Patel’s absence.
From the lawsuit:
On February 22, 2026, a trespasser armed with a shotgun and gas tank breached the security perimeter at Mar-a-Lago and was shot and killed after pointing the weapon at Secret Service agents and a sheriff’s deputy.
Around the same time, violence erupted in Mexico following the death of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Cervantes, including near the U.S.-Mexico border, and President Trump publicly suggested that the United States might strike Iran.
“Despite these significant national security events, FBI Director Patel was in Italy attending the 2026 Olympic Games, watching the men’s hockey final from what appears to be a skybox and chugging beer in the locker room of the U.S. men’s hockey team,” the filing goes on.
The lawsuit also makes the money angle explicit.
“Director Patel traveled to and from Italy on government aircraft at a reported cost of $75,000 to the American taxpayer,” the lawsuit continues. “Prices to attend Olympic events varied, but tickets to the men’s hockey final ranged between $500 and $1,600.”
After the FBI parceled out the watchdog’s request into nine separate tranches with specific request numbers — by way of nine separate letters — another nine letters followed, the lawsuit says.
The second set of nine letters advised Democracy Defenders that “unusual circumstances” applied to each request and therefore the FBI’s “response to each request number would be delayed.”
Then, in April, the FBI closed out one of those requests entirely — saying the agency had no responsive records to the request for Patel’s locker room appearance with the U.S. men’s hockey team.
In May, the FBI denied each request for expedited processing.
The lawsuit is premised on two causes of action: the alleged wrongful withholding of non-exempt responsive records and the alleged violation of mandatory statutory deadlines.
The plaintiffs want a court order directing the agencies to “expeditiously and fully process” the FOIA requests “and disclose all non-exempt records” and “to preserve all records, in whatever form they exist, potentially responsive” to the requests.
The plaintiffs are also asking the judge overseeing the matter to maintain jurisdiction over the case until the FBI “is in compliance with FOIA and every order of this Court” and to declare that the “FBI unlawfully withheld records responsive to Plaintiff and violated the statutory deadline to respond to” the watchdog’s FOIA requests.
