FBI Director Kash Patel has gone viral after wearing a Liverpool FC tie during his Senate hearing.
On Tuesday, Patel testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding a number of topics – including the investigation into the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
During his testimony, he credited his social media transparency as a factor for the FBI now having the alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, in custody.
However, as Patel delved further into the topic, eagle-eyed fans noticed a small detail on the tie that he had opted to wear – before later questioning his ‘professionalism’.
It was none other than a Liverpool FC tie – which is the English soccer team that FBI Director Patel has previously voiced his support for.
A screenshot of Patel wearing the tie, which had the club badge situated at the top, swiftly went viral on social media shortly afterwards.
FBI Director Kash Patel has gone viral after wearing a Liverpool FC tie during his Senate hearing
Fans quickly questioned why he was wearing a tie with the soccer team’s logo on it
Patel appeared to wearing the ‘LFC Heritage Tie’ which is available on the club website
One account, who shared a screenshot of Patel, wrote: ‘Kash Patel wearing a Liverpool FC tie to his senate hearing…. very professional’.
Back in April, Patel sent out a post on X which showed him wearing his Liverpool tie once again. The caption read: ‘#YNWA… Liverpool PL Champs. Our good luck tie’.
While users on social media debated Patel’s tie choice, he was defending his decision to post in real time what the FBI was doing with Kirk’s assassination investigation.
‘It’s important that this FBI is as transparent as possible without jeopardizing investigations,’ Patel said during an FBI oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
Tyler Robinson, 22, was taken into custody just 33 hours after Kirk was shot in the neck at an open forum debate on the campus of Utah Valley University.
On the day of Kirk’s murder, Patel announced on X that the ‘the subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody.’
But just 90 minutes later the FBI Director provided an update that the ‘subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement.’
This caused an uproar from critics claiming that he was botching the investigation.
Patel testified in front of the Senate regarding the investigation into the death of Charlie Kirk
Some users on X claimed it was not ‘professional’ for Patel to have worn the tie on Tuesday
Patel has previously shown his support for Liverpool – such as when they won the league
Judiciary Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) accused Patel of being ‘anxious to take credit’ for finding the killer.
Senators questioned Patel on what can be done to address threatening online activity without stifling the free speech of Americans.
Sen. Lindsay Graham noted, ‘Free speech doesn’t allow you to go on the internet and basically incite somebody to kill another person,’ to which Director Patel agreed.
Patel discussed at the hearing on Tuesday a leaked Discord group chat that the suspected assassin was part of and that allegedly included plotting Kirk’s murder.
Discord – a popular messaging platform among gamers – disputes these claims and insists its platform was not used for discussing the attack beforehand.
There are other groups the FBI is investigating as part of the probe into Kirk’s political assassination.
