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Kash Patel faces House grilling after tense Senate clashes over Kirk assassination
By Ashley Oliver
Published September 17, 2025
FBI Director Kash Patel is testifying before House lawmakers on Wednesday in a hearing focused on the bureau's dramatic reforms in the second Trump administration and the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Patel is facing questions in five-minute rounds from Republicans and Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee as part of an annual oversight hearing, marking the director's second appearance in as many days on Capitol Hill after he testified before the Senate one day prior.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, raised what he said was a weaponization of the FBI against conservatives, reviving concerns his committee regularly brought up during FBI Director Christopher Wray's tenure. Jordan praised Patel for what he said was a course correction.
"No more spying on parents at school board meetings," Jordan said in his opening remarks. "No more pre-dawn raids on pro-life Catholics, no more retaliation against whistle-blowers, and he's given us information that Chris Wray didn't. Maybe said better, he's given us information that Chris Wray wouldn't."
‘MOST TRANSPARENT’ FBI EVER: PATEL UPDATES SENATE ON KIRK ASSASSINATION PROBE
FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Sept. 16, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Kirk's killing at Utah Valley University last week has been both unifying for House lawmakers and at times led to criticisms about Patel's handling of the investigation and sparked broader debate over the driving causes of political violence.
Jordan opened the hearing by calling Kirk a "good man" and "happy warrior," while ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., called the shooting incident horrifying and shocking and said, "We all stand together categorically against political violence in America."
Early on in the hearing, Patel faced sharp rebukes and tough questions from House Democrats about the controversial firings of senior FBI officials and Jeffrey Epstein, a sore subject for the Trump administration amid a rocky rollout of information related to the disgraced financier's sex trafficking case.
Patel addressed similar concerns from Senate Democrats one day prior, as they zeroed in on Patel's limited law enforcement experience and accusations that the firings of top FBI officials had happened without proper due process.
FBI INVESTIGATING ‘A LOT MORE' THAN 20 PEOPLE IN DISCORD CHATS WITH SUSPECTED CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Patel, a former public defender who worked in the first Trump administration, opened the hearing by addressing Kirk's assassination, taking credit for being the one to decide to release video footage of the suspect, Tyler Robinson, which Patel said prompted the suspect's parents to recognize him. Patel also warned there was little more he could say at this stage, aside from what authorities have already revealed about Robinson, in light of his ongoing state prosecution for murder and the lingering possibility of federal charges.
"It's important for this FBI to be transparent without jeopardizing our investigation," Patel told the committee.
Raskin criticized Patel for initially misstating on social media that the alleged killer was in custody, echoing concerns raised by Sen. Pete Welch, D-Vt., and other Democrats during the Senate hearing.
Ranking Member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., takes a question from a reporter as he introduces tariff legislation at the U.S. Capitol Building on May 8, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
"When Charlie Kirk was assassinated, while his killer was still on the loose, you decided you didn't need to be at FBI headquarters in Washington to work with your team," Raskin said. "While the chaotic manhunt unfolded, you spent your evening dining in a swanky midtown Manhattan restaurant and tweeting out false information that the subject of the shooting was in custody, a statement you had to retract one hour later."
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Patel has conceded that he could have worded his social media post better but that he does not regret it because he issued it in the name of transparency.
The Department of Justice's handling of Epstein's sex trafficking case is another topic expected to crop up throughout the hearing. President Donald Trump's base has long demanded more information about the case, but in a turnabout, DOJ leadership said this year there was nothing further they could disclose to the public about it.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kash-patel-faces-grilling-capitol-hill-from-house-lawmakers-wake-kirk-assassination