The FBI director, Kash Patel, is facing new scrutiny following reports that he participated in a snorkeling excursion around the USS Arizona during a trip to Hawaii last summer.

The outing was first reported this week by the Associated Press, which obtained government emails describing the excursion as a “VIP snorkel” around the USS Arizona – the site that holds the remains of more than 1,000 US navy sailors and marines who died at Pearl Harbor in 1941.

According to the AP, the outing was coordinated by the military, and took place in August during a two-day stop in Hawaii as Patel returned to the US from official visits to Australia and New Zealand. Patel had also stopped in Hawaii earlier in the trip, and visited the FBI’s Honolulu field office.

On Friday, the New York Times also reported that nine other people joined Patel on the tour and the navy confirmed to the Times that the FBI director swam in vicinity of the tomb for 30 minutes.

When asked for comment, the FBI referred the Guardian to a statement released earlier this week in response to the initial AP report, in which a spokesperson for the FBI accused the outlet of “attempting to spin an invitation from the Commanding General of Indo Pacom to a military base as a party or vacation, which is so stupid”.

The spokesperson added that the Department of Defense “routinely does these engagements with interagency partners” and said that when Patel was chief of staff at the Department of Defense in Trump’s first administration, he “offered the same event for many partners that came to visit”.

“It’s a historical tour to honor heroes who died on the USS Arizona – not a party,” the spokesperson added.

The FBI also said in a statement to the AP that top regional commanders hosted Patel at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam “as they commonly do with US government officials on official travel”.

The bureau added that the Pearl Harbor visit “was part of the Director’s public national security engagements last August with counterparts in New Zealand, Australia, our Honolulu Field Office, and the Department of War”.

The FBI also said in a statement to the Times that Patel had been invited to Pearl Harbor by Adm Samuel J Paparo Jr, who is the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command.

Navy and defense department officials told the Times that VIP “tours” near the USS Arizona were common, though they reportedly declined to say how often they take people snorkeling. The Navy spokesperson also reportedly declined to identify the nine people who joined Patel on the trip.

Neither the navy nor the National Park Service immediately responded to requests for comment from the Guardian about how often people are allowed to swim around the USS Arizona.

According to the AP, marine archaeologists and National Park Service crews occasionally dive at the memorial to monitor the wreck’s condition, and other dives have been conducted to inter the remains of surviving USS Arizona crew members.

The outlet also reported that, since at least the Obama administration, a limited number of military and government officials connected to the memorial’s management have been allowed to swim at the site. A former government diver told the outlet that past participants have included navy admirals, defense secretaries and interior secretaries, and that the tours were intended to provide them with insights regarding the memorial and its operations.

Over the years, former FBI directors have visited Pearl Harbor on official business, but according to the AP, none dating back to at least 1993 are known to have snorkeled at the memorial.

In an interview on CNN this week, former FBI director James Comey was asked about the reports of Patel’s snorkel trip.

“You said snorkeling?” Comey asked. “I visited the Pearl Harbor memorial with the admiral in charge of the pacific command on a navy boat, never got in the water, so I don’t know, I think when you’re FBI director you have a responsibility to represent not just yourself but 38,000 people and an idea, an American idea that’s respected around the world and that’s a burden, you’re always on duty, you’re always being watched, and I knew that the whole time.”

The reports about Patel’s Hawaii trip comes as Patel has already faced scrutiny in recent months for mixing his leisure travel with official business.