Patel ripped into FBI agents in profanity-laced online meeting: NYT
FBI director Kash Patel reportedly criticized subordinates in a tense Thursday morning meeting over their handling of the investigation into Charlie Kirk’s killer.
Over 200 agents joined the online call, which was first reported by The New York Times. An official attending the meeting told The Times that Patel criticized the agency’s “Mickey Mouse operations,” saying it was one of the few times in the call that he wasn’t cursing.
During the call, he and FBI deputy director Dan Bongino emphasized the need to catch Kirk’s killer. Patel also criticized Salt Lake City agents for not providing him with a photo of the suspected killer until 12 hours later, The Times reported.
Both Patel and Bongino flew out to Utah on Thursday to personally oversee the investigation.
The FBI arrested Tyler Robinson, 22, the suspect in Kirk’s shooting, on Friday. According to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R), he was apprehended after a family friend reached out to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, stating Robinson “confessed to” his family “or implied that he had committed the incident.”
Kirk was shot on Wednesday at an event at Utah Valley University. Patel said the FBI took “the subject for the horrific shooting” into custody on X later that day, only to later announce that the subject had been released after being interrogated by law enforcement.
But the Wednesday blunder has cost Patel. Several MAGA allies criticized the director over his leadership, casting doubt on whether he was the right man to head 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,” conservative activist Chris Rufo wrote on X.
Patel joined the FBI after a career as a federal prosecutor and defense department chief of staff. His lack of law enforcement experience led to some former GOP officials’ reservations against him stepping into the position.
Steve Bannon, a former Trump advisor, said that he didn’t see the shooter’s apprehension as “great law enforcement work” speaking on his “Bannon’s War Room” show directly after the conference.
“I don’t know why Kash flew out there, you know, thousands of miles, to give us, ‘Hey, working partnerships and our great partnership in Utah’ — OK, got that,” Bannon said.
