FBI Director Kash Patel joins Team USA hockey in locker room celebration after gold medal win
US Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel looks on prior to the Men’s Gold Medal match between Canada and the United States on day 16 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Elsa/Getty Images)
(MILAN) — FBI Director Kash Patel joined in on Team USA hockey’s locker room celebrations in Italy shortly after the team won the gold medal.
The team beat Canada 2-1 at the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina on Sunday, marking the first such victory for the U.S. since the so-called “Miracle on Ice” game in Lake Placid, New York, in 1980.
Patel, a hockey fan, was said to have had meetings in Italy prior to attending the game. Ben Williamson, an FBI spokesperson, said on social media that Patel’s trip had been previously scheduled. He added that “any other personal expenses would be reimbursed.”
Patel on Sunday evening posted on social media a statement, which he said was for “the very concerned media.”
“[Y]es, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys — Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth,” he said in the post.
A video obtained by ABC News showed Patel wearing a USA shirt in the locker room, where he’s seen singing along with members of the team. After he takes a swig, shakes his bottle and pounds the table, a member of the team places a gold medal around his neck.
“Unity, Sacrifice, Attitude – what it takes to be the best in the world. These men live and breathe it,” Patel wrote on social media, where he posted photos of himself celebrating with the team in the locker room.
Patel added, ” Now Team USA are gold medal champions, legends standing on the shoulders of giants. Thank you for representing the greatest country on earth, in the greatest game ever created.”
He included several emojis — a fist bump, American flag and a hockey stick — then said, “congrats boys.”
Steven Cheung, the White House’s communications director, appeared on Monday to publicly defend Patel and the video, telling MS Now reporter Carol Leonnig on X, “don’t be mad because America won.”
Cheung was responding to Leonnig, who posted a video of Patel on social media and said the FBI had said it was “strictly a business trip.” Cheung said Patel was also meeting with security teams in Italy.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — At least 100 million Americans are on alert for dangerous cold weather in the coming days across the East as brutal, eye-watering cold winds — the coldest of the season for some — are expected across the Northeast this weekend.
Wind chills in the -20s are possible in Michigan and northern Ohio through Saturday morning, with -10s for southern Ohio and West Virginia.
Richmond, Virginia, could reach below-zero wind chills this weekend.
Extreme cold warnings are in place across much of the Northeast, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont.
New York City could reach as low as -20 this weekend, and upstate New York around Saranac Lake could reach -40. Frostbite can occur in 10 minutes on exposed skin.
Much of this extreme cold is due to strong winds gusting 30 to 50 mph this weekend, especially Saturday.
Monday morning will still be very cold across the Northeast, but the wind will be calmer, so wind chills won’t be as extreme.
Slowly through the week, a warming trend is expected across the East, with high temperatures going above freezing for New York City and Boston on Wednesday, possibly even on Tuesday.
The end of next week is looking above average across the middle of the country, while the Northeast feels seasonal mid-February winter temperatures.
The system ushering in the brutal cold also brings some snow.
Friday morning, snow was falling over Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, western Pennsylvania and western New York.
By Friday afternoon, snow will become more scattered and fall from the Appalachians of western North Carolina through upstate New York.
A few light snow showers or flurries will pass over New York City on Friday night, and much of Saturday is looking dry. A dusting up to 1 inch of snow is possible over the city on Friday night.
On Saturday, Boston and much of New England will continue to see passing snow showers.
Boston could see 2 to 4 inches of snow through Saturday evening.
The western New York I-90 corridor could see 2 to 5 inches of snow through Saturday evening, including Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo.
President Donald Trump speaks to the media aboard Air Force One on November 25, 2025 in flight en route to Florida. The Trumps are traveling to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday. (Photo by Pete Marovich/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The new prosecutor chosen to take over the Fulton County election interference case against President Donald Trump and others has requested that the criminal case be dismissed.
“In my professional judgment, the citizens of Georgia are not served by pursuing this case in full for another five to ten years,” wrote Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia.
Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty in August 2023 to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.
The charges, which were brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis following Trump’s Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which he asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the votes needed to win the state, allege that the defendants solicited state leaders throughout the country, harassed and misled a Georgia election worker, and pushed phony claims that the election was stolen, all in an effort for Trump to remain in power despite his election loss.
Defendants Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro and Scott Hall took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.
Willis was subsequently disqualified from the case following accusations of impropriety regarding her relationship with a fellow prosecutor, leaving a council of Georgia attorneys to assign an independent prosecutor to take over the case and determine its fate.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
A man plays a trumpet on Bourbon Street, November 29, 2025, in New Orleans, Louisiana amid reports of federal immigration enforcement surge. (Ryan Murphy/Getty Images)
(NEW ORLEANS, La.) — More than 200 federal agents are expected to begin fanning out across New Orleans on Wednesday after the Department of Homeland Security announced the start of an immigration crackdown dubbed Operation Catahoula Crunch.
Named after the Louisiana state dog, the immigration enforcement operation in New Orleans is the latest stop in the Trump administration’s nationwide effort targeting undocumented migrants with criminal records, according to the DHS.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commander-at-large Greg Bovino is expected to lead the operation in New Orleans, sources with knowledge of the plans told ABC News.
“We are here arresting criminals who should not be here,” Bovino said on Wednesday in a post on X, announcing the operation. “The state, local and federal law enforcement partners in Louisiana are excellent partners!!”
The actions of the CBP have previously ignited protests and pushback from Democratic leaders in Chicago, Los Angeles and Charlotte, North Carolina. The crackdown has also prompted violent clashes between protesters and federal agents, who have deployed tear gas to quell demonstrations.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, DHS alleged that New Orleans’ sanctuary policies have led to the release of immigrants “who continue committing crimes against innocent Americans.”
“Sanctuary policies endanger American communities by releasing illegal criminal aliens and forcing DHS law enforcement to risk their lives to remove criminal illegal aliens that should have never been put back on the streets,” Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
McLaughlin said the immigration operation will go after “violent criminals who were released after arrest for home invasions, armed robbery, grand theft auto and rape.”
But some leaders in other cities where immigration sweeps occurred have criticized the tactics of masked federal agents they allege have instilled fear in their communities by snatching up people off the streets for simply being in the country illegally.
“What we are seeing unfold in our community is not public safety; it is a political stunt wrapped in badges, armored vehicles, and military uniforms,” Rep. Troy Carter Sr., D-La., who represents New Orleans, said in a statement on Tuesday. “These are militarized forces who are not trained in our local laws, not trained in community-based de-escalation, and do not know our neighborhoods or our people. That is a recipe for fear, confusion, and dangerous mistakes.”
New Orleans Mayor-elect Helena Moreno, a Democrat who immigrated to the United States from Mexico as a child, issued a statement last month advising immigrants in New Orleans to know their constitutional protections.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, has welcomed the federal immigration enforcement in New Orleans.
“New Orleans is a place under which we’ve had illegal criminal activity, alien activity,” Landry said in an interview on Fox News last month.
In a social media post on Saturday, Bovino hinted at “next level” immigration enforcement, but didn’t reveal where that would occur.
“Hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen, immigration enforcement is going next level,” Bovino said in the post. “Illegal aliens, utilize the CBP Home app. to self deport — immediately.”
Bovino has come under fire after video from a protest in October showed him throwing a tear gas canister at demonstrators in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood without giving a verbal warning, a violation of a U.S. district judge’s earlier temporary restraining order limiting the use of force.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis admonished Bovino during a court appearance in November, saying he admitted to lying about the rock-throwing incident used to justify the deployment of tear gas against protesters. She then issued a preliminary injunction limiting the use of force during immigration arrests and protests.
The Trump administration appealed Ellis’s injunction. The Department of Justice argued, “This overbroad and unworkable injunction has no basis in law, threatens the safety of federal officers, and violates the separation of powers.” On Nov. 19, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay on the injunction.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the FBI New Orleans Field Office and the Louisiana State Police announced a joint enforcement effort to “deter assaults on federal officers and attempts to obstruct law enforcement actions.”
“We will not tolerate assaults on law enforcement officers in Louisiana and there will be consequences,” Jonathan Tapp, the special agent in charge of the New Orleans Field Office, said in the statement.
Tapp warned that FBI agents and State Police will “investigate and arrest anyone assaulting law enforcement officers, unlawfully impeding federal law enforcement activity, or assisting anyone to commit this criminal activity.”
