Stepping to the microphone at a news conference Friday morning in Utah, FBI Director Kash Patel wasted no time explaining what led to the capture of a suspect in the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“This is what happens when you let good cops be cops,” Patel said.
Over the next six minutes, Patel lauded the work of the FBI in leading the investigation into Wednesday’s assassination and its coordination with state and local law enforcement — while also twice saying the decision to release photos and videos to the public, which led to the arrest of suspect Tyler Robinson on Thursday evening, were made at his direction.
But Patel’s upbeat tone contrasted with frustration and anger, both inside and outside the FBI, over his handling of the most high-profile moment of his tenure so far. Some FBI employees told CNN they found it galling for Patel to claim personal credit for the most successful parts of the investigation.
After all, it was Patel who had posted on Wednesday that a “subject” was in custody, a claim he had to walk back less than two hours later. Patel’s style also struck the FBI employees as not in keeping with how previous FBI directors handled similar situations, normally trying to credit employees instead of themselves.
Other FBI employees found it ironic that Patel thanked some of the bureau’s support staff key to investigations — since Patel has overseen moves to decimate those ranks.
Patel’s response during the rapid-fire series of events surrounding Kirk’s horrific murder has led some allies of President Donald Trump to question both publicly and privately whether he is equipped to handle the country’s top law enforcement agency.
A MAGA loyalist and member of the first Trump administration, Patel was a controversial pick to lead the FBI from the start, with many Trump critics questioning whether he was qualified for the job. But now some of those concerns have begun seeping into conservative circles that Patel is a fixture of.
Christopher Rufo, an influential right-wing activist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, posted on X Friday that it was “time for Republicans to assess whether Kash Patel is the right man to run the FBI.”
“We would be wise to take a moment and ask whether Kash Patel has what it takes to get this done,” Rufo wrote. “I’ve been on the phone the last few days with many conservative leaders, all of whom wholeheartedly support the Trump Administration and none of whom are confident that the current structure of the FBI is up to this task.”
Conservative commentator Erick Erickson responded in support of the sentiment. “He’s right. The FBI situation is concerning,” he wrote on X.
The criticism over Patel’s actions in the Kirk investigation isn’t the first time Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, have faced blowback for their handling of a high-profile episode. The pair got into a spat with Attorney General Pam Bondi at the White House earlier this year over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and the administration’s about-face in its decision not to release all of the documents.
An FBI official defended Patel to CNN, noting that the suspect was only eventually apprehended after a family member saw photos of the suspect released by the FBI. The official also pointed out that the arrest of Robinson came quicker than other recent high-profile manhunts, including that of Luigi Mangione, who was on the run for 5 days after allegedly killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“Over these last few days, what has mattered isn’t ignorant criticism or petty assumptions — it’s been the pursuit of justice,” said Erica Knight, a spokeswoman for Patel. “Justice that was promised, and justice that has now been delivered.”
There is no indication that Patel’s job is at risk. A source familiar with the matter said Patel had spoken with the president after the arrest and noted that the president was pleased with the quick work.
When asked for comment, the FBI told CNN they “have nothing additional to provide.”
It was just hours after Kirk was shot at a Utah university that Patel made his most significant misstep of the investigation. In a social media post, the FBI director said that the bureau had a “subject for the horrific shooting” in custody.
But the post on X came just minutes before officials in Utah stood in front of cameras at a press conference and announced that the shooter was still at large.
The FBI was, in fact, questioning someone in relation to the shooting, and state and federal officials at the press conference scrambled to course correct to be in line with Patel. Still, soon after the conference was over, Patel backtracked by posting that the subject had been released.
Leaders at the Justice Department saw the posts as embarrassing, privately criticizing Patel for using social media to prematurely announce that investigators had made a breakthrough only to walk it back less than two hours later, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
Initially, Patel’s post that the “subject for the horrific shooting” was in custody prompted some White House officials to breathe a sigh of relief. After following the investigation closely and contacting every person who might have knowledge, sources told CNN that they were pleasantly surprised that the investigation was wrapping up so quickly.
But as time dragged on without an update, some began to privately question whether Patel was absolutely certain that they had the suspect — fears that were confirmed by Patel’s follow-up clarification.
“It’s unacceptable,” one source close to Kirk told CNN after Patel’s backtrack.
But shortly after the announcement of the arrest, Kirk’s inner circle was thanking Patel and the FBI. “Thank you, Kash and thank you, Dan. You told us you wouldn’t stop, you wouldn’t sleep until you got him. You were men of your word,” Andrew Kolvet, Kirk’s executive producer and spokesperson, posted on X.
Patel’s rush to social media — followed by an embarrassing walk back — only added to the intense pressure already bearing down on him as the hours stretched on after the shooting and no suspect was identified. A close personal friend of Kirk, Patel felt the weight personally and professionally, sources said.
That pressure appeared to be on display a day later, when Patel lashed out at agents during an intense and expletive-ridden virtual video meeting Thursday afternoon with FBI teams across the country, according to sources familiar with the matter. The episode was first reported by the New York Times.
Patel accused agents of not giving him information fast enough, including not waking him up in the middle of the night when images were first discovered of the suspect, the sources said. He focused his anger at the Salt Lake City special agent in charge, who had only recently taken over the job after his predecessor was forced out.
One source defended Patel, pointing to his relationship with Kirk and noting that it showed how passionate he was about catching the killer.
Several current and former law enforcement officials told CNN that Patel and others in the administration may have also hampered the effort to find Kirk’s murderer by firing dozens of senior-level officials who had decades of combined knowledge into the FBI’s sophisticated tactics in finding and arresting criminals.
That included the former head of FBI’s Salt Lake City field office – whose jurisdiction covers the university where the shooting took place and who was one of the people forced out during an early-August purge.
Three of those fired FBI agents on Wednesday sued Patel, as well as the FBI and DOJ, alleging that Patel carried out political firings at the behest of the White House or in reaction to online criticisms.
After Patel’s social media backtracking Wednesday, officials at the Justice Department, FBI and US Marshals Service became hesitant to say anything about the investigation to avoid another public misstep, sources familiar with the matter said.
But criticism of the investigation’s handling went beyond Patel’s social media gaffe. There was frustration from some officials who thought precious time was wasted the first day after the shooting, including by the FBI not immediately releasing images of the shooter to the public. While it’s not necessarily unusual they held off, sources say, the officials believed that the bureau could have acted faster.
On Thursday morning, the FBI released its first photos of a person of interest, which showed a man in sunglasses and a dark blue cap wearing a black T-shirt with a large American flag and bald eagle on the front walking up a stairwell.
Another misstep, according to people close to the investigation, was that the FBI held onto the rifle Robinson allegedly used until late Thursday before turning it over to the ATF to begin analysis. Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche had to intervene, insisting that the weapon be sent immediately, the sources said.
As the chaotic investigation continued, a series of unverified, preliminary tips from the ATF were leaked to the public that claimed agents found engravings that they interpreted as “expressing transgender and anti-fascist ideology” on ammunition inside a weapon believed to be the one used by Robinson.
None of the bullet casings recovered alongside the gun appear to have been engraved with statements or symbols related to transgender people, despite earlier reports that they expressed transgender “ideology.”
Officials who spoke during a news conference Friday did not address whether the inscriptions included references to trans people, but none of the writings they described appear to have any connection to that community. One law enforcement source told CNN that some of the markings instead appear to be a reference to video games.
On Thursday evening, Patel and Bongino personally traveled to Utah and toured the scene of Kirk’s assassination. The FBI director then stood silently behind state officials as they played new security footage of the shooter fleeing that scene.
Later that night, the suspect would be brought into custody. Robinson was identified by his father in FBI photos and confessed to his father when confronted, officials said.
The next morning, the news was announced first by Trump during an appearance on Fox and Friends.