Many of the criticisms centered around Patel prematurely stating the FBI had a person in custody, only to clarify later it wasn’t the suspect.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Utah prosecutors will likely indict suspect in Charlie Kirk's death, with death penalty possible.

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s hand-picked FBI Director, is under fire after his bungled handling of the shocking shooting of right-wing firebrand Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University this week.

Before his Charlie Kirk screwup, the FBI director was portrayed by insiders as obsessed with looking good on social media.

Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray announced formal charges against alleged Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson on Tuesday with seven counts, including aggravated murder, after Kirk was shot and killed during an event last week at Utah Valley University.

Kash Patel's appearance in the Senate comes at a delicate time for the director, who is a loyalist of President Trump but has no experience leading an organization like the FBI.

FBI Director Kash Patel’s tribute to conservative activist Charlie Kirk has sparked widespread attention and debate. Kirk, 22, was shot dead on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University. During a September 12 press conference announcing the arrest of the alleged shooter,

Yet despite the glare of the world’s media on the killing – described by Republicans as America’s most significant political assassination victim since Robert F Kennedy – the gunman was able to vanish in a puff of smoke.