The FBI chief announced the arrest of a suspect a few hours after the shooting, only to turn around two hours later and say that the individual had been released and the manhunt was continuing.
Tyler Robinson, the actual suspected assailant, was formally charged in Provo, Utah, on Tuesday with the murder of Kirk, founder of the influential conservative youth political group Turning Point USA.
“NO CREDIBLE INFORMATION”
Patel was also asked by both Republican and Democratic senators about Epstein, the convicted sex offender whose case has become a political lightning rod for the Trump administration.
Patel said there is no “credible information” in the law enforcement files he has seen that Epstein trafficked young women to other individuals.
“There is no credible information, none,” Patel said. “If there were I would bring the case yesterday that he trafficked to other individuals.”
Some of Donald Trump’s fiercest supporters have tracked the Epstein case for years, believing “deep state” elites have been protecting Epstein associates in the Democratic Party and Hollywood.
Patel angered many Trump loyalists with a memo in July that effectively closed the investigation into Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for trafficking of underage girls.
Since taking office, Trump has taken a number of punitive measures against his perceived enemies, purging government officials deemed to be disloyal, targeting law firms involved in past cases against him, and pulling federal funding from universities.
Three former senior FBI officials filed a lawsuit against Patel last week over their firing, claiming they were victims of a “campaign of retribution” over a perceived “failure to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty”.
Patel is to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
