Who knew that hiring someone to run the Federal Bureau of Investigation simply because he wrote fawning picture books about President Donald Trump would be a bad choice with real-world consequences?
Everyone.
A book about President Donald Trump by Kash Patel
Everyone knew that tapping Kash Patel to run the FBI was an absurd choice. And if there was any doubt about that, Patel himself has dispelled every last remaining shred by basically live-tweeting his own failures at investigating the Charlie Kirk shooting.
It’s rake-stepping all the way down, and we all—unfortunately—have a front-row seat.
There was never any question that Patel would screw up every major investigation that came his way, but this was really the worst-case scenario for him. The high-profile nature of the victim as a conservative celebrity meant not only that the Trump administration would throw all resources behind the investigation but also that Patel would be under constant scrutiny.
And Patel’s inability to stay off of social media only made things worse for him.
First, there was his big announcement on X that the “subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody.”
That’s big news! And it must be true, since the FBI director himself is telling everyone about it.
Um, about that. Roughly two hours later, Patel followed up, saying that the “subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement.”
Honestly, it’s an absolutely staggering level of incompetence for the FBI director to have gotten so far out over his skis that he had to walk back his own brag about having someone in custody. But setting that aside, what on earth is a “subject” in this context? Did Patel mean to say “suspect”? Can he really be that thick?
Maybe social media isn’t the best place for major law enforcement actions to be announced or documented on the fly. But that’s not Patel’s style. Remember when he decided that X was the best place to breathlessly announce the FBI’s arrest of Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan over her alleged obstruction of federal agents attempting to arrest someone in her courtroom?
President Donald Trump with Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who was shot and killed on Sept. 10.
Even if someone took his phone away and wouldn’t let him post, Patel is going to continue to embarrass himself. His comically thin resume—a few years at the Department of Justice as a prosecutor, a staffer in a couple of security agencies—was wildly different from previous FBI directors, who had high-level DOJ positions, like heading the criminal division, or being deputy attorney general.
Patel’s lack of skill is exacerbated by the fact that he’s also a thin-skinned paranoiac, which led him to threaten staff with polygraphs and to force out a top FBI official for the crime of knowing Peter Strzok.
Additionally, given that incompetent cronyism begets more incompetent cronyism, Patel’s second in command, Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, is somehow even less qualified.
Bongino’s desire to do it all for the gram is well-documented in the recent lawsuit by three high-level FBI officials forced out by the administration. The lawsuit notes that Bongino prioritized investigations with political significance, making sure to discuss them in interviews and on social media.
From the lawsuit:
Jensen [one of the fired officials] became alarmed at Bongino’s intense focus on increasing online engagement through his social media profiles in an effort to change his followers’ perception of the FBI. Jensen was concerned that the emphasis Bongino placed on creating content for his social media pages could risk outweighing more deliberate analyses of investigations.
You don’t say.
Patel also did himself no favors by forcing out Mehtab Syed, the experienced and decorated special agent in charge in Salt Lake City, Utah. Nor was it the brightest idea to let ICE hoover up 2,840 FBI employees to use them for Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Patel was given a job that he was objectively unqualified for and then presided over the gutting of his own agency—both in terms of experience and headcount.
All of the FBI’s clown moves in the Kirk shooting should be laid directly at his feet.
