There was a strong sense among critics and allies alike that the manhunt for Charlie Kirk’s assassin was a major test for FBI Director Kash Patel.
Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, told Blaze News on Thursday that the “assassination of Charlie Kirk is the defining moment for Patel and the FBI.”
While the suspected assassin, a leftist Utah State University dropout named Tyler Robinson, has been arrested, some have nevertheless questioned whether the FBI director made the grade.
Manhattan Institute fellow Christopher Rufo, for instance, noted, “I’m grateful that Utah authorities have captured the suspect in the Charlie Kirk assassination, and think it is time for Republicans to assess whether Kash Patel is the right man to run the FBI.”
“He performed terribly in the last few days, and it’s not clear whether he has the operational expertise to investigate, infiltrate, and disrupt the violent movements — of whatever ideology — that threaten the peace in the United States,” added Rufo.
Frederick Humphries, a retired supervisory special agent of the FBI, suggested to Blaze News that in the director’s recent rush to play show-and-tell with the media in the name of transparency, Patel may have unwittingly undermined the assassination case.
While President Donald Trump has signaled that Patel’s job is safe, there are nevertheless rumors that confidence in the director has collapsed at the White House — not unlike the collapse that preceded Mike Waltz’s exit as national security adviser.
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Patel has overseen numerous wins since taking the helm of the FBI, including the arrest of thousands of people for violent crimes against children; the arrest of thousands of suspected members of foreign terrorist organizations; the rescue of thousands of child victims; and the seizure of well over 1,500 kilos of fentanyl, which would have been enough lethal doses to kill over 113 million Americans.
Several incidents and trends in recent months have, however, fueled skepticism about Patel’s fitness to lead the bureau.
Mounting mistakes
The director’s initial handling of the manhunt for Kirk’s assassin proved for Rufo, Humphries, and others to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
‘This is absolutely ridiculous.’
The FBI swooped into action following Kirk’s assassination on Sept. 10, attempting to track down his killer, who managed to flee the scene.
At 2:53 p.m. Eastern Time, FBI Director Kash Patel stated that the bureau was “closely monitoring reports of the tragic shooting involving Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University,” adding that “agents will be on the scene quickly and the FBI stands in full support of the ongoing response and investigation.”
Patel prematurely announced just over three hours later that the suspected shooter had been arrested, stating at 6:21 p.m., “The subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody.”
Kirk’s killer was, however, still at large.
Patel effectively admitted just before 8:00 p.m. that he had jumped the gun, noting that “the subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement.”
FBI whistleblower Kyle Seraphin, one of Patel’s harshest critics, was among those who seized upon the apparently haphazard communications, noting, “Translation: FBI director f**ked up and is desperate for a win. This is absolutely ridiculous.”
‘He carries a badge now, but it’s cosplay.’
Rasmussen Reports responded, “Two early suspects, including the first guy, cleared. The assassin succeeded in getting onto the roof undetected, killing Charlie Kirk with a single shot, and getting off the roof & disappearing without apparent interference. Nothing random or sloppy about this incident so far.”
“At the outset of an investigation, much of the initial intelligence is typically wrong or slightly off. That’s why what he did yesterday has never been done by any FBI director before him, or any division leadership before,” retired FBI agent Dan Brunner told Reuters. “The investigators need to sort through all the initial intelligence before putting out factual evidence. … FBI does not run investigations on social media.”
When asked on the eve of Robinson’s arrest whether Patel enjoyed the continued confidence of the president, a White House official told Blaze News, “Everyone is cheering him on and trying to help him in any way we can.”
Photo by Bethany Baker/Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images
“The fact that the director of the FBI would go off half-cocked so quickly on an arrest, not waiting for the interview, tells you he doesn’t understand because, you know, he’s not a cop,” said Blaze News investigative reporter Steve Baker.
“They make an arrest. He goes out and says, ‘We have the guy in custody,’ not understanding that no cop would ever say that,” added Baker.
“That’s the biggest knock against Kash Patel,” continued Baker. “It’s not that he’s not a former FBI guy or an agent. He’s not a cop at all. He carries a badge now, but it’s cosplay.”
The FBI director suggested on Monday that while he could have worded his controversial social media updates “a little better,” he had no regrets about putting them out.
Eric O’Neill, a former FBI counterterrorism and counterintelligence operative, suggested to Politico that there “might have been a stumble out of the starting gate” but that the “FBI is caught up and now fully has the reins on this investigation.”
But wait, there’s more
After Robinson was arrested by Utah law enforcement, Patel appeared relieved.
During Friday’s press conference at Utah Valley University, Patel said that the public “had a right to demand such an expeditious solving of an investigation,” and “the FBI answered that call diligently.”
Patel indicated that the bureau helped in part by posting the suspect’s photograph on social media. This may have done the trick: Sources told the New York Post that Robinson’s father recognized his son as the suspected shooter, then urged Robinson to turn himself in.
While the case appeared to be back on track going into the weekend, Patel apparently kicked off this week with an unforced error.
Patel divulged several insights into the assassination investigation during his interview on Monday with “Fox & Friends,” including that “the DNA hits from the towel that was wrapped around the firearm and the DNA on the screwdriver” left on the rooftop where the shooter is believed to have taken the shot “are positively processed for the suspect in custody.”
Humphries, a decorated veteran of the bureau with experience in counterterrorism, noted that Patel’s assertion in the interview “that the DNA on the towel is the subject’s DNA presupposes cross-examination and evaluation and poisons prospective jurors. It’s just unprofessional.”
“Kash Patel just poisoned the jury pool on ‘Fox & Friends’ and put a chill on anyone cooperating in the killer’s inner circle,” continued Humphries. “I guarantee agents and other state and local law enforcement officers and agents are shaking their heads wondering what the f**k he’s doing. Again, there was a lot of ‘I’ in everything he said. What an arrogant narcissist. All in the fake name of ‘transparency.'”
“He could effectively be transparent by informing the audience that in these circumstances, the FBI DNA experts will do this, the field agents will do this, the evidence response team will do this,” said Humphries. “You never reveal what they’ve found or what they collected or who they’ve interviewed or are interviewing.”
“The integrity of the case has to be protected. It’s not because we want this guy or any bad guy or girl to get off on a technicality. We want to ensure the bad guy doesn’t get off on a technicality because law enforcement made a misstep,” Humphries told Blaze News. “The integrity of the case requires that a guilty person adjudicated guilty stays guilty and not have a retrial or mistrial that adds more trauma to the victim’s family.”
In addition to noting that Patel could ultimately find himself called to the witness stand by the defense, Humphries indicated that in his experience, such “blabbing” prompts other law enforcement partners, local and federal, to keep information away from the FBI to avoid leaks.
Previous issues
Baker indicated that even prior to the Kirk investigation, sources close to the FBI told him there was a “general lack of confidence” in Patel at the bureau, “which most likely explains the creation of a heretofore unprecedented position of co-deputy director.”
In August, President Donald Trump named then-Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) to become co-deputy director of the FBI. Bailey — who was once Trump’s top pick for FBI director — recently tried to cast doubt on claims that he’s been brought in to replace Patel, though suspicions to the contrary persist.
Blaze News did not receive a response from the FBI by deadline.
“The main thing is a lack of confidence in their ability to run such a large and complex organization,” continued Baker.
‘The Patel I advocated for to be FBI director is up for the task at hand.’
A two-page memo released by the FBI and the Justice Department to Axios in July was one of the PR nightmares that served to undermine confidence in the director.
Patel promised during his confirmation hearing, “I will do everything, if confirmed as FBI director, to make sure the American public knows the full weight of what happened,” referring to the Epstein files.
What Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s agencies ultimately released, however, was virtually weightless.
Howell noted at the time that “the memo offers nothing new. It doesn’t present fresh evidence. It doesn’t announce new investigations. It simply reviews old files and claims to find nothing of interest.”
Howell added:
It all adds up: grandstanding promises, empty symbolism, pointless stunts — like handing out Epstein binders to influencers at the White House — and now, a slapdash memo dumped just as Bibi Netanyahu sits down with President Trump, which will only fuel speculation that Epstein was connected with Israeli intelligence. If the goal was to rebuild trust, this failed spectacularly.
RELATED: The Epstein memo is a joke — and the joke’s on us
Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
Patel also ruffled feathers among allies earlier this year by appointing Steven Jensen, a hard-line critic of Jan. 6 protesters, to run the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
“[Jensen] was a key figure in this domestic terror push against January Sixers, according to testimony before the House,” said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch. “He treated them all as terrorists and was one of the key instigators in pushing the narrative within the bureaucracy that these folks needed to be jailed and ferreted out.”
There’s also the matter of continued weaponization against one of the previous administration’s favorite targets.
Blaze News recently reported that despite Trump’s January executive order shutting down the weaponization of the federal government and assurances from Patel, the FBI has continued to target traditional Catholics — as recently as late last month. The FBI is now looking into the matter.
RELATED: Man posted a message in a private Catholic group chat — then the FBI came knocking
Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Tom Fitton told Blaze News that he attended only one confirmation hearing for this administration, and it was for Patel.
“I was enthused about him taking on directorship of the FBI,” said Fitton. “The challenge he’s had since then is fulfilling what I think the reasonable expectation was by many of his supporters, President Trump supporters — that there’d be a significant reformation of the FBI and, frankly, efforts to include dismantling it.”
“Instead, they’ve tried to redirect the agency to what they think is more appropriate law enforcement objectives, which on their face are unobjectionable but not responsive to the concerns about the institution existing in a form that will easily be converted back to weaponization,” added Fitton.
‘I’d like to see him get back on track.’
The Judicial Watch president emphasized that “unless something radically changes institutionally, the FBI will still be ready to do whatever the next administration wants it to do, and that includes the warfare against the opponents of the deep state.”
“I don’t know if it’s a Kash issue or something else,” continued Fitton. “I just want more and better, and it’s not happening yet, and I don’t know whose fault it is.”
Howell similarly signaled an appreciation for the promise of a Patel directorship and a desire to see him succeed.
“The Patel I advocated for to be FBI director is up for the task at hand,” said Mike Howell. “The Director Patel we’ve seen thus far, I have less confidence in. I’m not sure what happened behind the scenes during the period in between, but I’d like to see him get back on track.”
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Fbi, Kash patel, Patel, Federal bureau of investigation, Doj, Donald trump, Confidence, Competence, Charlie kirk, Politics
