FBI’s Patel faces US congressional hearings after Kirk death probe missteps
Al Jazeera
Fellow conservatives question FBI chief’s qualification to head agency as he braces for Senate and House inquiry.
FBI Director Kash Patel is bracing for United States congressional scrutiny over his leadership of the investigation into the killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, following early reported missteps, including his erroneous announcement on social media that “the subject” in the killing was in custody.
Patel is set to appear on Tuesday and Wednesday before the Senate and House judiciary committees, during which he is expected to answer questions not just about how the FBI handled the Kirk case, but also whether he can stabilise an agency fragmented by political fights and internal upheaval since his appointment, as toxic political divisions plague the nation.
US President Donald Trump praised Patel on Saturday for the speed with which the bureau identified and captured Kirk’s alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson.
But that has not stopped criticism even from fellow conservatives, who have started to wonder if Patel is qualified to head the country’s top law enforcement body of 38,000 employees, including 13,000 agents.
In a statement posted on X on Friday, Christopher F Rufo, a fellow at the conservative think tank Manhattan Institute, wrote that it was “time for Republicans to assess whether Kash Patel is the right man to run the FBI”.
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