Patel fighting to show he's fit for role

The FBI director has struggled, and top officials question his future at the bureau.

- BY MICHAEL WILNER

TOM WILLIAMS CQ-Roll Call FBI DIRECTOR Kash Patel recites the Pledge of Allegiance during a House Judiciary Committee hearing regarding the bureau.

Of all the investigations underway by the FBI, the case of Charlie Kirk's killing is one that President Trump’s allies expect the bureau to get right.

Yet its director, Kash Patel, has struggled out of the gate.

He posted misleading updates of the manhunt for a suspect on social media, blaming “the heat of the moment” in testimony before a Senate panel on Tuesday. He failed to coordinate his messaging internally with Justice Department leadership. Instead of returning to headquarters, Patel dined at an exclusive restaurant in New York as the search unfolded. And after a suspect was apprehended, Patel joined Fox News to share unprecedented details.

It was a series of missteps viewed in law enforcement circles as rookie errors, reflective of a director in over his head.

Trump has publicly stood by Patel in recent days. But leading voices in the MAGA movement have wondered aloud whether it is time for Patel to be removed, and top officials at the White House and Justice Department are reportedly questioning his future at the bureau. The president has also installed another loyalist in a top deputy position at FBI headquarters, raising questions over his plans.

The renewed spotlight on Patel comes amid suspicion in right-wing circles the director is suppressing the release of files from the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, a notorious sex offender, at Trump’s direction. And last week, former bureau officials filed a lawsuit against the administration accusing the White House of exerting extraordinary political influence over the FBI, issuing loyalty tests for agents to determine their support for Trump.