FBI Director Kash Patel delivered defiant testimony on Capitol Hill Tuesday as he has faced criticism from multiple angles for his handling of the investigation of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Patel spoke before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his first time since his confirmation hearing, where he faced aggressive confrontation about not only the investigation into Kirk, but also questions about the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and Patel’s massive changes to the bureau.
“I’m not going anywhere. If you want to criticize my 16 years of service, please bring it on,” he goaded.
Post-arrest fallout
But Patel continues to face criticism for his handling of the investigation. Particularly, Patel came under fire for using X to say that the FBI had apprehended a shooter before ultimately having to walk it back.
“Mr. Patel was so anxious to take credit for finding Mr. Kirk’s assassin, that he violated one of the basics of effective law enforcement: at critical stages of an investigation shut up and let the investigators do their job,” Democratic ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said in his opening statement.
On Friday, authorities apprehended 22-year-old Tyler Robinson for Kirk’s shooting at Utah Valley University in the town of Orem. This came after a more-than-24 hour manhunt. Patel had by then traveled to Utah to assist with the investigation and made the announcement alongside Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
But he drew fire for reportedly dining the evening of the shooting at Manhattan’s exclusive Rao’s restaurant rather than jet off to the scene. And in the days that followed, even some in conservative media have questioned whether Patel is the right person for the job.
As Patel was testifying, President Donald Trump was asked by reporters whether he had confidence in Patel. In response, Trump started by praising Bondi.
“Well first of all I think Pam Bondi has done an unbelievable job,” he said. “And Kash, take a look at what he did with this horrible person that he just captured.”
Questions about Epstein persist
Patel has not just faced criticism for his handling of the Kirk killing. Many others on both ends of the political spectrum have criticized both Bondi and Patel for the FBI’s release of a two-page memo in July saying that Epstein, the late convicted sex offender and pedophile, did not have a “client list” and that he died by suicide while in custody.
When Durbin asked Patel about why the memorandum was not signed, Patel pushed back.
The memorandum had the insignia of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” he said. “And in our effort to secure transparency for the American people, because the three prior administrations had not done so, we conducted an exhaustive search of everything related to the Epstein cases, and we produced what was legally and permissibly able to be produced to Congress, the American public.”
Mass firings
Patel also faced aggressive questioning from Democrats for the dismissal of various officials at the FBI for political reasons. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) asked Patel about the fact that 20 people that Patel listed in his book Government Gangsters had faced some kind of adverse action.
“Can you explain that?” Whitehouse asked.
“That is an entirely inaccurate presupposition, I do not have an enemies list,” Patel said.
“Well there was a list. It had about 60 names and about 20 have had an adverse action. So those are I think pretty clear facts,” Whitehouse said.
Lingering questions about political violence
In the same vein, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) asked Patel not only about the Kirk killing but also about the proliferation of violence, including the shooting of two Minnesota state legislators and the shooting at a church next to Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.
