On Tuesday, FBI Director Kash Patel and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker got into a heated argument during a routine testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The argument got out of hand when Senator Booker, a Democrat, said that Patel was to blame for the “generational destruction of the nation’s premier law enforcement agency.”
The Associated Press says that the fight swiftly got out of hand, with Patel saying that Booker was “an embarrassment.” The furious argument went on for several minutes, and Senator Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the committee, kept banging his gavel in a frantic bid to retake control and bring order back.
"I'm not afraid of you!"
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 16, 2025
An absolutely unhinged @SenBooker disrupts the hearing after @FBIDirectorKash calls out his lies.
Cory is a mess. pic.twitter.com/8w7Jw7LaR6
During the argument, Booker also questioned Patel’s future in the job, telling him that President Donald Trump “will cut you loose” and hinting that this hearing might be Patel’s last as FBI director.
The Senate Judiciary Committee asked Patel a lot of questions about the high-profile inquiry into the death of Charlie Kirk. Earlier that day, Peter Welch, another U.S. Senator, also went after Patel. Welch told CNN that the FBI director seemed to care more about promoting himself than working with local police in the Kirk case. Welch said, “He blew it, and he was more interested in promoting himself than working with local police, who I think did a great job.”
The Death of Charlie Kirk
The probe that is causing the most trouble is about the death of 31-year-old Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed on September 10 while attending a campus event in Utah. The incident happened around 12:20 p.m. local time during a student Q&A session at Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem.
There was a huge manhunt that led to the arrest of 22-year-old Tyler James Robinson from Washington, Utah, on suspicion of aggravated murder and other serious crimes. Authorities plan to formally charge Robinson before his first court appearance, which is set for today. At this point, investigators haven’t said anything about what might have motivated the attack.