Just hours after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, FBI Director Kash Patel announced online that the suspected gunman was already in custody. In reality, the shooter was still at large. The two men briefly detained were swiftly released, and Utah authorities later confirmed that the killer remained on the run.
The misleading assurance was far more than a simple misstep. It underscored the intense scrutiny and high-stakes uncertainty surrounding Patel’s leadership of the bureau at a moment when both the FBI’s credibility—and his own—are under unprecedented pressure.
Patel heads into congressional oversight hearings this week confronting not only scrutiny over that investigation but also deeper doubts about his ability to steady a federal law-enforcement agency riven by political battles and internal turmoil.
Democrats are expected to grill Patel over his sweeping purge of senior executives—now the subject of a lawsuit—his continued pursuit of former President Donald Trump’s grievances long after the Russia probe concluded, and his reshuffling of resources to focus on illegal immigration and street crime, even as the FBI’s historic mandate has centered on complex threats such as counterintelligence and public corruption.
FBI Director Kash Patel, center, arrives at the scene of the shooting death of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (Rio Giancarlo)
That’s on top of looming questions about the handling of files from the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking case, the unusual appointment of a co–deputy director to serve alongside Dan Bongino, and the recent use of polygraphs on some agents to root out leaks. Republicans, for their part, are expected to close ranks around Patel or shift the spotlight toward the bureau’s fiercest critics.
The hearings will give Patel his most pivotal platform yet—and perhaps the ultimate test of whether he can persuade the nation that, under his leadership, the FBI can steer clear of further missteps amid rising political violence and deepening public 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” said Gregory Brower, a former FBI executive who once served as the bureau’s top congressional affairs official.
The FBI declined to provide any comment regarding Patel’s upcoming testimony before the committee.
He claimed the subject was ‘in custody’
Kirk’s killing was destined to draw intense scrutiny—not only as the latest episode of political violence in the United States, but also because of his close ties to Trump, Patel, and other prominent figures and allies within the administration.
As Salt Lake City agents conducted their investigation, Patel took to the social media platform X to announce that “the subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody.” Yet, at a nearly simultaneous news conference, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox warned, “Whoever did this, we will find you,” signaling that authorities were still searching for the shooter. Shortly afterward, Patel updated his post to acknowledge that the individual previously in custody had been released.
“That does not deliver the message that you want the public to hear,” said Chris O’Leary, a retired FBI counterterrorism executive. “It had the opposite effect. People start to wonder what is going on. This looks like the Keystone Cops and it continues to get worse.”
The following day, a planned afternoon news conference was canceled due to “rapid developments” as Patel and Bongino traveled to Utah. The briefing was rescheduled for the evening, where Patel appeared but remained silent.
As the manhunt continued, Patel reportedly lashed out at FBI personnel on Thursday, frustrated over what he saw as a failure to keep him properly informed—including the delay in being shown a photograph of the suspected shooter. Two individuals familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly, confirmed the account to The Associated Press. Earlier, The New York Times had reported details of the call.
When questioned about the scrutiny surrounding his performance, the FBI issued a statement asserting that it had collaborated with local law enforcement to apprehend the suspected shooter, Tyler Robinson, and “will continue to be transparent with the American people.”
Patel’s handling of the situation drew significant attention within conservative circles. Prominent strategist Christopher Rufo posted on X that it was “time for Republicans to assess whether Kash Patel is the right man to run the FBI.”
At a news conference on Friday and again on social media Saturday, Patel highlighted his role in overseeing the investigation, emphasizing his decision to release photographs of Robinson as a pivotal breakthrough. Robinson’s father identified him from the images, triggering a series of events that ultimately led to his son turning himself in.
On Saturday, Patel received public backing from Trump, reposting on X a message from a Fox News Channel journalist who reported that the former president had praised Patel and the FBI, saying they “have done a great job.”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, left, and FBI Director Kash Patel, right, converse as they make their way to a press conference to speak to media about the shooting death of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (Rio Giancarlo)
Then there’s the personnel purge
On the same day Kirk was killed, Patel confronted another challenge: a lawsuit filed by three senior FBI executives who had been dismissed in an August purge that eliminated decades of institutional experience and was described by the plaintiffs as a retaliatory move by the Trump administration.
Among the plaintiffs was Brian Driscoll, who, as acting FBI director in the early days of the Trump administration, resisted Justice Department demands for the names of agents investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. In the lawsuit, Driscoll claimed he was dismissed after opposing leadership’s effort to fire an FBI pilot who had been wrongly identified on social media as participating in the search for classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
The lawsuit cites Patel as telling Driscoll that his position hinged on dismissing individuals the White House wanted removed. The FBI has declined to comment on the case.
The other plaintiffs include Spencer Evans, a former senior agent in Las Vegas whose termination letter cited “a lack of reasonableness and overzealousness” in enforcing COVID-19 policies while serving in a human resources role—a claim his attorneys say is false—and Steve Jensen, who played a key role in overseeing FBI investigations into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The turmoil follows a trend that predates Patel’s tenure, when more than half a dozen of the FBI’s top executives were pushed out under a Justice Department rationale that they could not be “trusted” to carry out Trump’s agenda.
Since then, the FBI has seen significant leadership turnover across its 55 field offices. While some departures were due to promotions or planned retirements, others followed ultimatums to accept new assignments or resign. The head of the Salt Lake City office, a seasoned counterterrorism investigator, was removed from her post just weeks before Kirk was killed at a Utah college, according to people familiar with the decision.
In July, Norfolk, Virginia–based agent Michael Feinberg published a first-person account stating that he was warned to prepare for a demotion and a polygraph examination due to his friendship with Peter Strzok, the lead FBI agent in the investigation of ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign who had been fired over disparaging text messages about Trump. Feinberg chose to resign instead.
FBI’s priorities shift under Patel
Patel entered the FBI as a vocal critic of its leadership, particularly regarding investigations into Trump that he argued had politicized the bureau. Under Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, the FBI and Justice Department have become embroiled in politically charged inquiries of their own, including an investigation involving New York Attorney General Letitia James.
He has acted swiftly to reshape the bureau, with the FBI and Justice Department focusing on one of the Republican president’s longstanding grievances—the years-old Trump-Russia investigation. Trump has consistently labeled the probe, which found no evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Russia and his campaign, a “hoax” and a “witch hunt.”
The Justice Department appeared to confirm in an unusual statement that it is investigating former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan—key figures in the Russia investigation whom Patel labeled in his book as “members of the Executive Branch Deep State”—though the statement did not specify the nature of the inquiry. Attorney General Bondi has instructed that evidence be presented to a grand jury, and agents and prosecutors have begun seeking documents and interviews from former officials connected to the investigation, according to multiple people familiar with the outreach.
Critics of the new Russia inquiry view it as a clear effort to deflect attention from the intense backlash the FBI and Justice Department faced from segments of Trump’s base after their July announcement that no additional documents from the Epstein investigation would be released.
Meanwhile, Patel has prioritized the fight against street crime, drug trafficking, and illegal immigration, placing these issues at the forefront of the FBI’s agenda in line with Trump’s priorities.
The FBI has played a central role in the federal government’s intervention in the Washington police department, collaborating with partner agencies on arrests for offenses such as drunk driving—crimes not traditionally considered core FBI priorities.
The bureau has offered no apology for its aggressive policing in American cities that the Trump administration claims are plagued by crime. Patel and Bongino have highlighted the volume of arrests under a federal initiative they call Operation Summer Heat. Patel describes the thousands of cumulative arrests—many immigration-related—as “what happens when you let good cops be good cops.”
However, some experts worry that the emphasis on street crime could divert attention from the complex public corruption and national security threats that have long been the FBI’s primary focus. For instance, a federal corruption unit in Washington was disbanded this past spring.
“One of the big problems that I see is that the investigative programs that have been hurt the most this year are the ones that really only the FBI does, or the FBI does better than anybody else,” said Matt DeSarno, who retired in 2022 as head of the Dallas field office.
