Trump’s FBI chief grilled over Charlie Kirk shooting, Epstein files

Kash Patel defended his tenure as FBI director before a US Senate panel on Tuesday, angrily pushing back on questions about his handling of the investigation into the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the firings of veteran officials.

Patel’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee came as critics, including some allies of US President Donald Trump, have questioned his leadership of the most prominent US law enforcement agency.

Patel offered a broad defence of his tenure, touting what he said was an increase in US Federal Bureau of Investigation arrests for violent crime and seizures of illegal guns.

“I find it disgusting anyone who jettisons our 31 years of combined experience that is now at the helm of the FBI,” Patel said referring to himself and Dan Bongino, a US Secret Service agent turned podcaster now serving as FBI deputy director.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Patel drew scrutiny from current and former US officials after inaccurately posting on social media on Wednesday that the person responsible for the shooting of Kirk, an important leader of the young conservative movement, was in custody.