{"id":164630,"date":"2025-09-16T16:12:31","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T16:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/fbi-director-kash-patel-sparked-mass-confusion-over-charlie-kirk-shooting-suspect-top-democrat-says-live-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T16:12:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T16:12:31","slug":"fbi-director-kash-patel-sparked-mass-confusion-over-charlie-kirk-shooting-suspect-top-democrat-says-live-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/fbi-director-kash-patel-sparked-mass-confusion-over-charlie-kirk-shooting-suspect-top-democrat-says-live-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI director Kash Patel sparked \u2018mass confusion\u2019 over Charlie Kirk shooting suspect, top Democrat says \u2013 live – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

FBI director grilled by Senate judiciary committee as he faces criticism for his actions and social media posts throughout the Kirk shooting investigation
Durbin says Patel \u201csparked mass confusion\u201d by announcing too early that the suspect in the shooting of Charlie Kirk had been caught.
\u201cAt critical stages of an investigation, shut up and let professionals do their job<\/strong>,\u201d says Durbin.
Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono asked Patel about the FBI personnel changes.<\/strong>
\u201cSince January 20, 2025, how many FBI employees have retired, resigned, been fired or otherwise separated from employment?\u201d Hirono asked.
Patel replied that he would \u201cget her a number\u201d as he did not have a number \u201coff the top of my head.\u201d
\u201cWould it surprise you to know that it is in the thousands?\u201d Hirono asked.
\u201cI don\u2019t think that number is accurate\u201d Patel responded.
During a heated exchange, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal asked Patel whether \u201canyone from the White House contacted you about personnel decisions?\u201d. <\/strong>
\u201cI completely disagree with your entire premise that I have lied or am misleading the FBI\u201d Patel responded, referring to earlier comments made by Blumenthal accusing Patel of lying to lawmakers during his confirmation hearing when he told them that FBI agents would not face political retribution.
\u201cThe only way people get terminated at the FBI is if they fail to meet the muster of their job and their duties, and that is where I will leave it. You accusing me of lying is something I don\u2019t take lightly, but I\u2019m not going to get into a tit for tat with you.\u201d
Blumenthal pressed Patel again, asking once more: \u201cHas anyone from the White House contacted you about personnel decisions?\u201d.
Patel replied, \u201cgenerally speaking, we always discuss with the White House, OMB during the budget process, how many personnel we need, who we need where.\u201d
\u201cAny termination at the FBI was a decision that I made based on the evidence that I have as director of the FBI,\u201d Patel added. \u201cIt\u2019s my job and I\u2019m not going to shy away from it.\u201d
During the hearing, Republican Louisiana Senator John Kennedy asked Patel about the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Epstein\u2019s crimes. <\/strong>
\u201cWho, if anyone, did Epstein traffic these young women to?\u201d Kennedy asked.
Patel responded, that \u201cthere is no credible information, none … that he trafficked to other individuals\u201d adding that \u201cif there were, I would bring the case yesterday that he trafficked to other individuals.\u201d
During his remarks, Kennedy said that \u201cthis issue is not going to go away,\u201d and said that he believes the \u201ccentral question for the American people is this: They know that Epstein trafficked young women for sex to himself. They want to know who if anyone else he trafficked these young women to.\u201d
When asked by Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar <\/strong>of Minnesota whether he would support an assaults weapon ban, Patel said that \u201cthere are instances on this legislation that could prevent future attacks, but I\u2019m not going to weigh in to the creation of legislation.\u201d
While Patel is answering questions from lawmakers, President Donald Trump<\/a> continues to defend Patel\u2019s handling of the Kirk shooting investigation. <\/strong>
Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn, Trump said that \u201ctake a look at what he did with respect to this horrible person… He did it in two days\u201d referring to the fact that the suspect was taken into custody after a 33-hour manhunt. Authorities say that the suspect turned himself in.
\u201cIt took other similar cases four days, five days, four years if you look at certain shooters\u201d Trump added.
In an exchange with Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, Patel said that the FBI is investigating \u201canyone and everyone\u201d who was involved in the Discord group chat with the 22-year-old who has been named a suspect in the killing of Kirk.
\u201cWe are investigating Charlie\u2019s assassination fully and completely and running out every lead related to any allegation of broader violence\u201d Patel said.
Patel said that the FBI is \u201cinvestigating anyone and everyone involved in that Discord chat\u201d with the alleged shooter, where he reportedly confessed to the fatal shooting.
When asked about the number of Discord users in the chatroom, Patel said that it had \u201ca lot more\u201d than 20 people.
Patel told Republican senator Josh Hawley that the Discord chat in which the Kirk shooting suspect allegedly confessed to the murder was \u201cleaked\u201d.
Asked by Hawley whether the Kirk shooting is being treated as part of a broader trend of violence against religious groups, Patel responded: \u201cWe are investigating Charlie\u2019s assassination fully and completely and running out every lead related to any allegation of broader violence.\u201d
Patel also said that the FBI is investigating \u201canyone and everyone\u201d who was involved in an online gaming chatroom on Discord with the alleged shooter. That chatroom involved \u201ca lot more\u201d than 20 people, Patel said, adding: \u201cWe\u2019re running them all down.\u201d
Democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse puts it to Patel that there have been \u201cadverse actions of various kinds taken against\u201d 20 out of 60 people on his so-called enemies list.
\u201cYou\u2019ve been in office for seven months. At that rate, you\u2019ve got 14 months until you\u2019ve hit all 60,\u201d Whitehouse said.
\u201cThat is an entirely inaccurate presupposition,\u201d Patel replied. \u201cI do not have an enemies list.<\/strong> You can continue to characterize it as you wish. The only actions we take, generally speaking, for personnel of the FBI, are ones based on merit and qualification and your ability to uphold your constitutional duty. You fall short, you don\u2019t work there anymore.\u201d
Patel identified 60 alleged \u201cdeep state\u201d actors in his 2023 book \u201cGovernment Gangsters\u201d. He has rejected the idea that it\u2019s an enemies list.
Questioned by Durbin on the recent firings of FBI agents, Patel said he would not get into personnel decisions and accused him of unfairly attacking FBI leadership.
Earlier in the hearing, Patel called it \u201cabsolutely disgraceful\u201d to cite what he described as a \u201cone-sided story\u201d about the firings.
\u201cYour attack on the current leadership of the men and women of the FBI is equally disgraceful,\u201d Patel told Durbin.
The AP notes he is facing a lawsuit from three high-ranking FBI officials who have accused him of illegally firing them in a \u201ccampaign of retribution\u201d.
Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Trump, asked Patel what legal justification the administration is using for military strikes on Venezuelan boats that the president has said are carrying drugs.
Patel declined to answer, saying he would leave that to attorney general Pam Bondi.
\u201cWe will hunt down every single one of those narco-traffickers,\u201d Patel added.
Durbin asked Patel about unfounded statements from Dan Bongino before he became deputy FBI director that the bombs found at the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee on 6 January 2021 were an \u201cinside job\u201d.
Patel declined to comment on Bongino\u2019s comments, but called Durbin\u2019s criticism of Bongino \u201cdisgusting\u201d.
\u201cSo you have no evidence?\u201d asked Durbin.
\u201cI got a lot of evidence, and I\u2019ll give it to you when I can,\u201d Patel said.
The person who placed the bombs just before the attack on the US Capitol that day has never been identified.
During a combative exchange, Patel was pressed by Durbin over an unsigned memo released by the justice department in July that said there was no evidence of a Jeffrey Epstein \u201cclient list\u201d.
Patel responded with a dig at Joe Biden, telling Durbin: \u201cWould you have preferred I used autopen?\u201d
The Senate hearing quickly became tense, with the FBI director repeatedly avoiding answering questions from Durbin on how the bureau has administered polygraph tests to staff.
Patel told Durbin, the top Democrat on the judiciary committee, that he wouldn\u2019t discuss the specifics of how polygraph tests are administered or what questions come up.
Durbin responded: \u201cYou have to have a decent memory when you come before a committee.\u201d
The Associated Press has previously reported that agents and senior executives alike have been subjected to polygraph exams aimed at ferreting out disclosures of information related to Patel.
Patel concluded his opening statement with a bit of a challenge for his critics: \u201cI\u2019m not going anywhere.\u201d
He pointed to his experience as a congressional staffer and Trump administration<\/a> official, saying: \u201cIf you want to criticize my 16 years of service, please bring it on.\u201d
Patel starts off defending his actions during the Charlie Kirk shooting<\/a> investigation.
He tells the Senate panel that his agency – \u201cat my direction\u201d \u2013 successfully brought the suspect into custody.
While he tells lawmakers that his order to release \u201cnever-before-seen video of the suspect\u201d played a crucial role in the arrest, the New York Times<\/a> notes that local authorities have said the routine release of the images might have played a role but the key break came when a family member identified the suspect, Tyler Robinson.
Durbin calls for the temperature to be brought down amid rising political violence and highlights that there are victims on both sides.
Durbin says Patel \u201csparked mass confusion\u201d by announcing too early that the suspect in the shooting of Charlie Kirk had been caught.
\u201cAt critical stages of an investigation, shut up and let professionals do their job<\/strong>,\u201d says Durbin.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FBI director grilled by Senate judiciary committee as he faces criticism for his actions and social media posts throughout the Kirk shooting investigationDurbin says Patel \u201csparked mass confusion\u201d by announcing too early that the suspect in the shooting of Charlie Kirk had been caught.\u201cAt critical stages of an investigation, shut up and let professionals do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164631,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}