WASHINGTON, D.C. — FBI Director Kash Patel appeared on Capitol Hill today, defending his leadership of the bureau before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Lawmakers pressed him on a wide range of topics, including personnel cuts, resource allocation, and the latest developments in the Charlie Kirk assassination investigation.
Today marked the first of two oversight hearings for Patel this week.
While he couldn’t share much due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, he addressed leaked reports that suspected shooter Tyler Robinson confessed to the attack in a Discord chat.
“We’re going to be investigating anyone and everyone involved in that Discord thread,” Patel said.
Sen. Josh Hawley said, “I’ve seen public reports that the Discord thread had as many as 20 additional users. It sounds like you’re trying to run all of that down to see if that’s accurate?”
Patel confirmed, “It’s a lot more than that, and we’re running all of that down.”
“It’s a lot more than 20?” Hawley asked. “Yes, sir,” Patel replied.
Democratic lawmakers condemned the attack on Kirk and called for an end to the political blame game and divisive rhetoric that has followed.
There was an emotional exchange between Patel and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who offered condolences on the loss of his friend, Charlie Kirk, and spoke about the pain her own state has endured due to recent gun violence.
She urged the Trump administration to work with Democrats on bipartisan solutions.
“Only two months ago, a madman took the lives of my friends Melissa and Mark Hortman, and shot Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette a combined 17 times,” Klobuchar said.
“Just last month, in my state, we were again shaken to the core when little kids were shot through stained-glass windows at Annunciation Catholic Church.”
“What I’m asking is for this rhetoric of blaming one side or the other to stop. If you could convey that to the President—that we actually work on things that are solutions—can you commit to me, Mr. Patel, Director Patel, that you will do that?” she asked.
“Absolutely, Senator,” Patel said.
Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri struck a sharply different tone. In a fiery speech, he insisted that the truth about political violence in America must be addressed directly.
“The vast majority of Americans are against political violence, but there is a vocal, active minority that encourages and celebrates it—and that minority is overwhelmingly on the left,” he said. “We are lying if we think this is a ‘both sides’ thing. It’s not, and we have to confront it.”
But Democrats have also labeled Patel “the most partisan FBI director ever.” Their two key concerns dominated the hearing:
- The firing of senior FBI officials—some of whom have accused Patel of politically motivated retaliation.
- The diversion of FBI agents to immigration enforcement efforts, which critics argue undermines the bureau’s core mission.
Patel defended these actions, stating that those who were terminated had either violated the law, their oath of office, or the bureau’s standards. He highlighted key FBI accomplishments under his leadership.
“Under this administration, the FBI has arrested more than 23,000 violent criminals—more than double compared to the same time period last year,” he said. “We’ve taken over 6,000 illegal firearms off the streets, an exponential increase. We’ve located and identified more than 4,700 child victims—up 35% from last year. We’ve arrested 15,000 child predators—a 5% increase—and 300 human traffickers, marking a 10% rise.”
“One of the stats the American people should thank the FBI most for: we are on track to have the lowest murder rate in modern American history,” he said.
Other topics addressed during the hearing included the growing threat from cartels and narco-traffickers, the FBI’s work educating social media platforms on the dangers of generative AI and chatbots, and the bureau’s ongoing counterintelligence efforts.
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