Washington, D.C.- U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) has publicly criticized FBI Director Kash Patel for not doing a good job with the investigation into the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Welch told reporters on Tuesday that he thinks Patel “blew it” and that he acted the way he did because he wanted to promote himself, not because he wanted to work well with local authorities.
Welch told CNN, “He blew it, and he was more interested in promoting himself than working with the police, who I think did a great job.” The senator’s comments came just before Patel was supposed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. This hearing was intended to be mostly about the Kirk case.
Welch’s main point of complaint is that Patel went too far by making multiple public assertions regarding the inquiry that turned out to be wrong. Patel tweeted on social media just hours after the incident on September 10 claiming the perpetrator was in custody. Utah law enforcement officials promptly denied this report. The FBI director later changed what he said, but the first mistake upset many on both sides of the political spectrum.
Patel’s handling of the issue has brought more attention to his leadership of the FBI, which has also had a number of senior executives fired since he was appointed. Patel has defended his conduct in his testimony, claiming that he wants to make the FBI “the most transparent it has ever been” and that the public’s involvement, which was sparked by the release of suspect images, was key in catching the suspect. He said that the pictures helped the suspect’s father find him and convince him to give himself in.
After a huge manhunt, Tyler James Robinson, 22, was caught and is being jailed on suspicion of aggravated murder and other serious crimes. It was thought that charges would be brought against him on Tuesday, before he went to court for the first time. Spencer Cox, the governor of Utah, claimed that Robinson’s relatives and friends had noticed a change in his beliefs toward a “leftist ideology.” However, authorities have not yet established a reason for the attack.