WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash Patel is at a turning point in his career as he gets ready for congressional oversight hearings next week. This is because conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed. His leadership has come under a lot of fire because he wrongly and too soon said on social media that a suspect in the murder was in custody. Utah authorities promptly denied this allegation.
This public mistake has made people even more worried about Patel’s leadership. Critics from all sides of the political spectrum say it is politically driven and harmful to the bureau. People have pointed to his angry reaction to the Kirk probe, in which he yelled at FBI agents for not keeping him updated, as a hint that the agency is in trouble. Christopher Rufo, a well-known conservative strategist, has even publicly asked if Patel is “the right man to run the FBI.”
Patel’s testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday is likely to be a very important test of his ability to win back people’s trust in the FBI. Democrats are ready to question him on a number of important points:
Removal of Senior Executives: Just hours before Kirk died, three senior FBI executives who had been ousted in a recent purge sued Patel and the government. They say they were wrongfully fired as part of a “campaign of retribution” by the Trump administration to get rid of personnel who had worked on investigations of the former president in the past.
Politicization of the Bureau: Critics believe Patel has a history of going after President Donald Trump’s complaints, such starting the Trump-Russia investigations again after it had been closed for a long time. The Justice Department, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, has reportedly told a grand jury to look at evidence about James Comey, the former head of the FBI, and John Brennan, the former head of the CIA, who were both important in the Russia story.
Changing Priorities: Patel has made the bureau’s goals match those of the Trump administration, putting more emphasis on fighting illegal immigration and street violence. Some people are worried about this change because they think it could take resources and focus away from the complex national security and public corruption problems that the FBI has always been in charge of.
The FBI has defended what it did in the Kirk case, saying it assisted with local police to catch the defendant, Tyler Robinson, and “will continue to be open.” Robinson was taken into custody on Friday, a few days after Patel’s first wrong announcement.
Patel’s problems are also clear in the fact that leadership changes often at the bureau’s 55 field offices. Some top executives have reportedly been forced out or given ultimatums to take on other roles. Just weeks before the Kirk assassination, the chief of the Salt Lake City office, a well-known counterterrorism investigator, was fired. Some former officials have called this a major setback to the bureau’s ability to do its job.
The country is dealing with more political violence and a growing lack of faith in its institutions. As a result, Patel’s performance in the next hearings will be widely monitored as a sign of how well the FBI can stay out of politics and do its job.