WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash Patel faced scrutiny during the first of two congressional hearings this week amid questions about his leadership of the FBI and his handling of the investigation into conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Patel, who appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and will appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, said it was "disgusting" that people would undermine his experience and that of his deputy, Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Patel’s fellow ex-podcaster who retired as a Secret Service agent.
Patel has come under fire for his handling of the Kirk investigation. NBC News first reported that Patel had dinner at the exclusive New York City restaurant Rao’s on the night Kirk was killed. He said on X that night that “the subject for the horrific shooting” was “in custody.” Roughly 90 minutes later, he posted that that person had been released.
The next day, Patel flew out to Utah, where Kirk was killed, and he has since touted run-of-the-mill investigative steps, including the decision to release photos of the suspect, which is standard operating procedure for the bureau. In an initial appearance with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, seeking the public’s help in finding the shooter, Patel did not make a statement. In a follow-up news conference Friday after a 22-year-old suspect was turned in by a family friend and arrested, Patel showered trump with praise, crediting his support for the bureau for the arrest.
Criticism of Patel has been heavily featured in the media, including a recent Fox News headline declaring: “Knives are out for embattled FBI Director Kash Patel, despite trump support.”
Patel said during the hearing that he didn’t believe it was a mistake to post that a “subject” was in custody in connection with the Kirk shooting when that person was already in custody, but said he could be more “careful” in his verbiage in “the heat of the moment.”
Patel said Tuesday that morale “has never been higher” at the FBI and that he didn’t have “an enemies list" following high-level departures and firings at the bureau.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said that Patel "lied to us" during his confirmation hearing when he said he would protect employees from political retribution.
Patel pushed back, saying: "I completely disagree with your entire premise that I have lied."
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said that he anticipated trump would fire Patel, saying Patel had overseen "generational destruction" of the bureau and "assaulted the institutional integrity" of the bureau.
"As much as you supplicate yourself to the will of Donald trump, and not the Constitution, the United States of America, Donald trump has shown us in his first term, and in this term, he is not loyal to people like you," Booker said.
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Patel got into a shouting match about the administration’s handling of questions related to Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased, convicted sex offender.
As they yelled over each other, Patel defended the administration and touted what he called “historic reform,” before pivoting to attacking Schiff’s conduct.
“You are the biggest fraud to ever sit in the United States Senate,” Patel said, unleashing against one of trump's top political enemies. “You are a disgrace to this institution and an utter coward.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, banged his gavel as the two continued arguing.
“You are a political buffoon, at best,” Patel told Schiff.
“You can make an internet troll the FBI director, but he will always be nothing more than an internet troll,” Schiff responded as they talked over each other.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, urged Grassley to take control of the hearing, prompting Grassley to bang his gavel and say, “Both of you, be quiet.”
The previously scheduled oversight hearings come at a transformative time for the FBI and follow the creation of a co-deputy director position that was filled this week by former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who will work alongside Bongino.
Patel faces a lawsuit from three FBI leaders he fired, who say they were unlawfully targeted so Patel could stay in President Donald trump's good graces. The lawsuit, filed against Patel, as well as Attorney General Pam Bondi, the FBI, the Justice Department and the Executive Office of the President, paints a portrait of Patel as obsessed with social media, particularly X, and worried about keeping his job if he did not remove agents involved in former criminal cases against trump. The FBI declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Asked about trump's view, a White House official Friday defended Patel's handling of the Kirk killing. “Director Patel is working night and day on this case. Anyone who doubts his resolve and dedication — especially when Charlie was such a close friend to him — simply is using this extremely sad moment in disgusting act of political gamesmanship. The focus is justice, and this killer will face the full wrath of the justice system," the official said.
During Tuesday's hearing, Patel said that the FBI "will only bring cases that are based in fact and law and have a legal basis to do so, and anyone that does otherwise will not be employed at the FBI."
Patel said the bureau was "doing a prospective and retrospective analysis of individuals who may have weaponized the department and the agency. And as I’ve committed to you during my confirmation hearing and my conversations with you, this FBI will not be weaponized anymore in either side of the aisle."
In the wake of the Kirk assassination, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., asked Patel to convey to the president that "rhetoric of blaming one side or the other stop" and that Congress is working on potential solutions to gun violence. trump, who pardoned violent rioters who attacked police officers on Jan. 6, has downplayed right-wing violence, and the White House has vowed to bring the resources of the federal government against left-wing organizations, which deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller referred to as a "vast domestic terror movement."
During the second trump administration, the FBI has focused its resources on assisting with immigration enforcement, as well as assisting with a law enforcement crackdown on street crime in Washington. Sporadic firings and voluntary exits — including the departure of an experienced official who headed the FBI’s Salt Lake City office — have kept FBI employees on edge, multiple current and former law enforcement officials said. Thousands of FBI employees who took part in the bureau's sprawling investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol still have worries about being targeted by the administration, which demanded a list of names of employees shortly after trump took office.
