It appears that Kash Patel, a former host of a MAGA podcast and current director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, had a big week! His new babysitterstarted work on Monday, he got sued by three former high-ranking FBI officials for alleged retribution, and he mistakenly said his agency had custody of the suspected killer of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday. But at least he got to eat at a famous Italian restaurant.
After Kirk, the founder of far-right youth organization Turning Point USA, was fatally shot in Orem, Utah, Patel posted a few tweets he might regret. At 6:21 p.m. that evening, he claimed the FBI had the “subject” in custody. Patel apparently spoke to some agents who were working on the case before hitting send, but he didn’t talk to his own leadership team, according to the New York Times.
A few minutes later, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) and other officials held their first press briefing regarding the case—and shared much different information than Patel did. At the briefing, the commissioner of Utah’s Department of Public Safety, Beau Mason, told reporters that the state and the FBI would be working together “to find this killer.” Then Cox said authorities had “a person of interest in custody,” but added that the police would find whoever had killed Kirk. Rut-roh.
About 90 minutes after Patel’s initial post, he quoted his own tweet to basically say “um, nevermind.” At 7:59 p.m., he posted, “The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement. Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency.” Retired FBI agent Dan Brunner told Reuters of Patel’s posts that “what he did yesterday has never been done by any FBI director before him, or any division leadership before.” He added: “The investigators need to sort through all the initial intelligence before putting out factual evidence. FBI does not run investigations on social media.”
The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement. Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency https://t.co/YXsG6YpFR5
NBC News reports that Patel posted the mea culpa while dining at Rao’s, a 10-table Italian restaurant in New York’s East Harlem neighborhood that is notoriously difficult to get into. (Rao’s regulars includeRobert De Niro and Al Pacino.) NBC contacted the FBI for comment, and the agency didn’t deny that Patel was there at the time! A spokesperson said in a statement that it “worked with our law enforcement partners in Utah to bring to justice the individual allegedly responsible for the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk, and we will continue to be transparent with the American people with real time updates as we are able.”
The morning after posting those embarrassing tweets, Patel and his fellow former podcaster-turned-FBI-deputy-director Dan Bongino called a meeting of 200 FBI agents to discuss the ongoing hunt for the subject. The Times reports that the call was laden with expletives as Patel lashed out at subordinates for not giving him timely information; it apparently took agents in Salt Lake City almost 12 hours to show him a photo of the suspect. Patel said that he would not tolerate any more “Mickey Mouse operations.”
But Patel may have personally hampered this investigation, the Times notes. “Over the summer, Mr. Patel’s team forced the retirement of Mehtab Syed, a highly regarded former counterterrorism agent appointed in February to run the Salt Lake City field office, for reasons that remain unclear, according to former officials.” (The ouster of Syed, a female Pakistani American, was one of several targeting women and people of color at the FBI, per an MSNBC analysis.) I’m now conjuring a mental image of the Tim Robinson hot dog guy meme, but with Patel in a Mickey Mouse costume.
The alleged shooter’s own family called police about him on Thursday night, and he was arrested on Friday for aggravated murder. By this time, Patel was in Utah, and at a Friday morning press conference, he referred to Kirk as his “friend” and “brother” and invoked Valhalla, a hall for slain warriors in Norse mythology.
Kash Patel: "To my friend Charlie Kirk. Rest now, brother. We have the watch. And I'll see you at Valhalla"
As for Patel’s new babysitter, we’re referring to former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R), who Trump appointed last month to serve as co-deputy director of the FBI. Many interpreted the creation of this brand-new position as an indication that the White House believed the agency needed some, uh, help on the leadership front.
Best of luck to the (un)happy throuple!
More barf:
Donald Trump, the demonizer-in-chief, said after Kirk’s killing that we need to stop demonizing other people and blamed “the radical left” even before a suspect had been identified. [NBC News]
The party of free speech: The State Department threatened immigrants not to make light of Kirk’s murder on social media, while Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, told staff to look for service members who made negative posts about Kirk. [The Hill/NBC News]
Headline: “Anti-Islamic US biker gang members run security at deadly Gaza aid sites” [BBC]
Republican-controlled states will be hardest hit if Republicans don’t extend Obamacare tax credits that expire at the end of the year. [NYT]
Trump take job: The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits has hit the highest level in almost four years. [Associated Press]
Internal National Guard assessments found that the public views its mission as “leveraging fear” and veterans view deployment on U.S. soil “with shame and alarm.” We only know about this because the documents were inadvertently emailed to reporters. [Washington Post]
The Trump administration is now reviewing National Park Service material that could be “disparaging” to Americans following a March executive order, and it includes information about slavery, attacks on Native Americans, and climate change. [Associated Press]
Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic-led effort to force the release of the Epstein Files. [Associated Press]
The Trump administration agreed to pay El Salvador $4.8 million to imprison migrants in CECOTafter a federal court blocked the government from expelling them from the country. [NOTUS]
At a dinner this month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened to punch top housing finance official Bill Pulte “in the fucking face.” [Politico]
This has been your weekly Barf Bag, thanks for reading!
