WASHINGTON — Hours after of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, FBI Director Kash Patel declared online that "the subject" in the killing was in custody. The shooter was not, and two detained men were quickly released. Utah officials acknowledged the gunman remained at large.
The false assurance spotlighted the uncertainty surrounding Patel's leadership of the bureau when its credibility is under extraordinary pressure, as is his own.
Patel now approaches congressional oversight hearings this week, facing questions about that investigation and broader doubts about whether he can stabilize a federal law enforcement agency fragmented by political fights and internal upheaval.
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Democrats are poised to press Patel on a that prompted a lawsuit, his and a that prioritized the fight against illegal immigration and street crime.
The hearings will test Patel's ability to convince the country that the FBI, under his watch, can avoid compounding mistakes in a time of political violence and deepening distrust.
"Because of the skepticism that some members of the Senate have had and still have, it's extremely important that he perform very well at these oversight hearings" on Tuesday and Wednesday, said Gregory Brower, the FBI's former top congressional affairs official.
The FBI declined to comment on Patel's coming testimony.
He claimed the subject was 'in custody'
Kirk's killing was always going to be a closely scrutinized investigation, not only because it was the latest burst of political violence inside the United States but also because of Kirk's friendships with Trump, Patel and other administration figures and allies.
While agents investigated, Patel posted on social media that "the subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody." At a near-contemporaneous news conference, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said, "Whoever did this, we will find you," suggesting authorities were still searching. Patel soon after posted that the person in custody was released.
As the search stretched on for more than a day, Patel angrily vented to FBI personnel Thursday about what he perceived as a failure to keep him informed, including that someone did not quickly show him a photograph of the suspected shooter. That's according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss it by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. The New York Times earlier reported details of the call.
Asked about the scrutiny of Patel's performance, the FBI said it worked with local law enforcement to bring the suspect, Tyler Robinson, to justice and "will continue to be transparent."
Conservative circles took note of Patel's overall response. One prominent strategist, Christopher Rufo, posted that it was "time for Republicans to assess whether Kash Patel is the right man to run the FBI."
Then there's the personnel purge
The same day Kirk was killed, Patel also faced a lawsuit from three FBI senior executives fired in an August purge that they characterized as a Trump administration retribution campaign.
Among those fired was Brian Driscoll, who, as in the early days of the Trump administration, resisted Justice Department demands for names of agents who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. Driscoll alleged in the lawsuit that he was let go after clashing with Patel over administration demands to fire an FBI pilot who'd been wrongly identified on social media as the of Trump.
Even before Patel took over, more than a half-dozen senior executives were forced out under a Justice Department rationale that they could not be "trusted" to implement Trump's agenda.
There was significant turnover in leadership at the FBI's 55 field offices. Some left because of promotions or retirements, others because of ultimatums to accept new assignments or resign. The head of the Salt Lake City office, an experienced counterterrorism investigator, was pushed out of her position weeks before Kirk was killed at a Utah college, said people familiar with the move.
FBI's priorities shift under Patel
Patel was a sharp critic of its leadership, including for inquiries into Trump that he says politicized the institution. Under Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, the FBI and Justice Department undertook politically fraught investigations.
He's moved quickly to remake the bureau, with the FBI and Justice Department working to investigate one of the Republican president's chief grievances — the . Trump calls that probe, which did not establish a criminal conspiracy between Russia and Trump's campaign, a "hoax."
In an unusual statement, the Justice Department appeared to confirm it was investigating , pivotal players in the Russia saga, but did not say for what. Bondi directed that evidence be presented to a grand jury.
Critics of the fresh Russia probe inquiry consider it an attempt to turn the page from the fierce backlash the FBI and Justice Department endured after they announced they would not release additional documents from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation.
Meanwhile, Patel elevated the fight against street crime, drug trafficking and illegal immigration to the top of the FBI's agenda, in alignment with Trump's agenda. Some are concerned the street crime focus could draw attention from the sophisticated public corruption and national security threats for which the bureau has long been primarily, if not solely, responsible for investigating.
