Kash Patel Loses It at Own Agents Over Bumbling Charlie Kirk Probe

FBI Director Kash Patel unleashed a profanity-laced tirade on federal agents, as he cracked under the pressure of finding Charlie Kirk’s killer.

The New York Times reported Thursday that Patel completely lost it during an online meeting with 200 agents involved in the manhunt for Kirk’s killer.

One official recounted to the Times that among Patel’s mostly expletive-laden remarks, he warned agents he wouldn’t put up with anymore “Mickey Mouse operations.” But it was Patel who’d turned the investigation into a farce by congratulating state and federal officials Wednesday for taking “the subject for the horrific shooting today” into custody—a claim that officials were forced to backtrack hours later.

In the Thursday meeting, Patel was furious that it had taken 12 hours for him to see a photograph of the suspected killer, and blamed agents in Salt Lake City (where he had fired the head of the FBI field office for unclear reasons just weeks earlier). He also berated subordinates he said hadn’t provided him timely information.

Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, relayed that they were under immense pressure to succeed and prove that they were capable of conducting a manhunt. As it turns out, they were not.

President Donald Trump claimed Friday morning on Fox & Friends that a 22-year-old suspect had been apprehended, but only because one of his family members turned him in.

Former FBI Director Andrew McCabe criticized Patel’s hands-on approach to the search, as the director’s handling of the case has come under increasing scrutiny. On Wednesday, Patel was the subject of a major lawsuit against the Department of Justice, accusing him of unlawfully ousting any employee that had investigated Trump.