Patel Faces Congressional Hearings     09/15 06:12

   Patel approaches congressional oversight hearings this coming week facing 
not just questions about that investigation but broader doubts about whether he 
can stabilize a federal law enforcement agency fragmented by political fights 
and internal upheaval.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hours after the assassination of conservative activist 
Charlie Kirk, FBI Director Kash Patel declared online that "the subject" in the 
killing was in custody. The shooter was not. The two men who had been detained 
were quickly released. Utah officials acknowledged that the gunman remained at 
large.

   The false assurance was more than a slip. It spotlighted the high-stakes 
uncertainty surrounding Patel's leadership of the bureau when its credibility 
is under extraordinary pressure, as is his own.

   Patel now approaches congressional oversight hearings this coming week 
facing not just questions about that investigation but broader doubts about 
whether he can stabilize a federal law enforcement agency fragmented by 
political fights and internal upheaval.

   Democrats are poised to press Patel on a purge of senior executives that has 
prompted a lawsuit, his pursuit of President Donald Trump's grievances long 
after the Russia investigation ended, and a realignment of resources that has 
prioritized the fight against illegal immigration and street crime.

   The hearings will offer Patel his most consequential stage yet, and perhaps 
the clearest test of whether he can convince the country that the FBI, under 
his watch, can avoid compounding its mistakes in a time of political violence 
and deepening distrust.

   "Because of the skepticism that some members of the Senate have had and 
still have, it's extremely important that he perform very well at these 
oversight hearings" on Tuesday and Wednesday, said Gregory Brower, the FBI's 
former top congressional affairs official.

   The FBI declined to comment about Patel's coming testimony.

   He claimed the subject was 'in custody'

   Kirk's killing was always going to be a closely scrutinized investigation, 
not only because it was the latest burst of political violence inside the 
United States but also because of Kirk's friendships with Trump, Patel and 
other administration figures and allies.

   While agents investigated, Patel posted on X that "the subject for the 
horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody." 
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said at a near-contemporaneous news conference that 
"Whoever did this, we will find you," suggesting authorities were still 
searching. Patel soon after posted that the person in custody had been released.

   As the search stretched on, Patel angrily vented to FBI personnel Thursday 
about what he perceived as a failure to keep him informed, including that he 
was not quickly shown a photograph of the suspected shooter. That's according 
to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss it by 
name and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press. The New York 
Times earlier reported details of the call.

   Asked about the scrutiny of Patel's performance, the FBI said it had worked 
with local law enforcement to bring the suspect, Tyler Robinson, to justice and 
"will continue to be transparent."

   Patel's overall response did not go unnoticed in conservative circles. One 
prominent strategist, Christopher Rufo, posted that it was "time for 
Republicans to assess whether Kash Patel is the right man to run the FBI."

   Then there's the personnel purge

   On the same day Kirk was killed, Patel also faced a lawsuit from three FBI 
senior executives fired in an August purge that they characterized as a Trump 
administration retribution campaign.

   Among them was Brian Driscoll, who as acting FBI director in the early days 
of the Trump administration resisted Justice Department demands for names of 
agents who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. Driscoll alleged 
in the lawsuit that he was let go after he challenged the leadership's desire 
to terminate an FBI pilot who had been wrongly identified on social media as 
having been part of the FBI search for classified at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

   The upheaval continues a trend that began before Patel took over, when more 
than a half-dozen senior executives were forced out under a Justice Department 
rationale that they could not be "trusted" to implement Trump's agenda.

   There's since been significant turnover in leadership at the FBI's 55 field 
offices. Some left because of promotions or retirements, but others because of 
ultimatums to accept new assignments or resign. The head of the Salt Lake City 
office, an experienced counterterrorism investigator, was pushed out of her 
position weeks before Kirk was killed at a Utah college, said people familiar 
with the move.

   FBI's priorities shift under Patel

   Patel arrived at the FBI having been a sharp critic of its leadership, 
including for inquiries into Trump that he says politicized the institution. 
Under Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, the FBI and Justice Department have 
become entangled in their own politically fraught investigations, such as the 
one into New York Attorney General Letitia James.

   He's moved quickly to remake the bureau, with the FBI and Justice Department 
working to investigate one of the Republican president's chief grievances -- 
the years-old Trump-Russia investigation. Trump calls that probe, which did not 
establish a criminal conspiracy between Russia and Trump's campaign, a "hoax."

   The Justice Department appeared to confirm in an unusual statement that it 
was investigating former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John 
Brennan, pivotal players in the Russia saga but did not say for what. Bondi has 
directed that evidence be presented to a grand jury.

   Critics of the fresh Russia inquiry consider it a transparent attempt to 
turn the page from the fierce backlash the FBI and Justice Department endured 
fromTrump's base following their July announcement that they would not be 
releasing any additional documents from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking 
investigation.

   Patel has meanwhile elevated the fight against street crime, drug 
trafficking and illegal immigration to the top of the FBI's agenda, in 
alignment with Trump's agenda.

   The bureau makes no apologies for aggressive policing in American cities the 
Trump administration contends have been consumed by crime. Patel says the 
thousands of resulting arrests, many immigration-related, are "what happens 
when you let good cops be good cops."

   But some are concerned the street crime focus could draw attention from the 
sophisticated public corruption and national security threats for which the 
bureau has long been primarily, if not solely, responsible for investigating.