FBI director Kash Patel visits Beehive

It's understood FBI director Kash Patel has made a visit to the Beehive today. Photo / Getty Images

FBI director Kash Patel is in New Zealand and has made a visit to the Beehive.

Patel, a former adviser to United States President Donald Trump, was seen by the Herald in the basement this afternoon.

It’s understood Patel has left the Parliament precinct. His visit to the seventh floor of the Beehive suggests he visited Foreign Minister Winston Peters.

The Herald has approached Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins. The Government has not confirmed his visit.

A spokesperson for the US Embassy said, “we have many official visits to New Zealand and we comment on these at the appropriate moment and when we are in a position to do so.”

Finance Minister Nicola Willis, speaking to Newstalk ZB, confirmed Patel had visited but said she didn’t know why.

She claimed the only reason she knew of his presence was a “bunch of handsome men in suits” on the seventh floor of the Beehive, where she and Peters have offices.

Willis refrained from saying anything more, admitting she had probably been “overly open”.

According to flight records, Patel travelled from Honolulu in Hawaii, then to Sydney, before touching down in Wellington.

Patel, who became director in February, is a former defence department chief of staff and ex-federal prosecutor.

He is widely described as a staunch Trump supporter, having served as Trump’s deputy assistant on the National Security Council during his first term as president.

In November after nominating Patel, Trump described him as a “brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter”.

In his statement, Trump pledged the FBI would “end the growing crime epidemic in America, dismantle the migrant criminal gangs, and stop the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking across the Border”.

Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.