Toward the end of his remarks about the killing of Charlie Kirk last Friday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox warned about the ills of America’s increasingly vitriolic online culture.
“Social media is a cancer on our society right now,” he said, imploring citizens to “log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member and go out and do good in your community.” Standing next to him was a stony-faced FBI Director Kash Patel, a heavy social media user who posts far more frequently than his predecessors in the job, Christopher Wray and James Comey.
The juxtaposition did not go unnoticed by bureau veterans.
“You can be a social media influencer, or you can be FBI director,” one recently retired special agent told CBS News. “But you can’t be both.”
But Patel is both, upending the agency’s cautious communication culture with a steady flow of online observations and updates.
That clash in cultures has never been more clear than it was last week, when the FBI chief faced intense scrutiny for his handling of the high-profile case. Repeatedly, he turned to social media to tout major developments in the case — in some cases prematurely. Hours after the shooting, he posted to his nearly 2 million followers on X at 6:21 p.m. ET, “The subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody.” Then, less than two hours later, at 7:59 p.m., he had to backtrack, posting, “The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement.” Patel sought to address the quick — and misleading — initial post during a Fox News interview Monday.
“I was being transparent with working with the public on our findings, as I had them,” he said.
“I stated in that message that we had a subject and that we were going to interview him, and we did and he was released,” Patel told Fox News. “Could I have worded it a little better in the heat of the moment? Sure. But do I regret putting it out? Absolutely not.”
Asked for comment, the FBI referred CBS News to Patel’s interview on Fox News.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino also defended Patel’s and his own efforts to publish FBI developments as soon as something new to share.
“We are clinging to transparency,” Bongino said on Fox News Monday. “The era of Cronkite and Jennings generation is over. New media now is media and we want to be sure we can do everything in our power to share what we can when we can while still balancing the needs of the investigation.”
Dribbling out information in real time about a highly complex, sensitive and fast-moving investigation is a startling departure from past FBI directors, whose public messaging traditionally has been spare and buttoned-up.
J. Edgar Hoover’s vaunted publicity machine occupied a whole wing of the bureau dedicated to writing articles, issuing press releases, tending to Hollywood directors and TV producers — all in an effort to buff the reputation of the FBI and its legendary G-man. But according to Yale historian Beverly Gage, Hoover was particularly cautious about publicizing active investigations.
“Hoover himself was contained and buttoned-down,” said Gage, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning biography “G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century.” “He did everything through elaborate bureaucratic procedure, so it’s very hard to imagine him being unfiltered enough to be on social media in quite this way.”
Patel is a departure from previous FBI directors. He eschews the standard-issue uniform of past FBI chiefs — conservative suits and spit-polished shoes — in favor of bold ties and European-cut suits. A close friend says he sees himself as a “disruptor” intent on radically changing enforcement priorities — “let cops be cops” is one of his favorite slogans — while shaking up the bureau’s staid culture.
A former colleague who worked with Patel during the first Trump term says he has a “bias for action,” which may explain his exuberance on social media. “He wants to get s*** done,” this source said.
Those harboring a less charitable view argue that Patel is an attention seeker who thrives on the spotlight. One former FBI agent pointed to an earlier episode that he said echoes Patel’s rush to post details of the Kirk investigation on social media.
During his confirmation hearing to be FBI director, a whistleblower told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that when Patel was working for the National Security Council in 2020, he violated government protocols by leaking to a newspaper the details of a hostage deal involving American citizens being held in Yemen. FBI officials were furious at the time, accusing Patel of jeopardizing the lives of the hostages so he could claim credit with the media. At the time, the White House and a source close to Patel denied the allegation.
Last week, Patel’s social media activity renewed similar concerns.
“In a sensitive investigation you don’t want to tip your hand to things the public doesn’t already know so that active evidence that is vital to the court process not get or disclosed unnecessarily to hinder the investigation,” said Stephen Laycock, a former executive assistant director at the FBI who retired in 2021.
Or as a former special agent said, “Being the first to get ‘likes’ or clicks is not beneficial to the investigative process.”
The eventual arrest of a suspect in the Kirk shooting has staunched some of the initial chatter about Patel’s comments. Still, on Tuesday he is expected to face a grilling from the Senate Judiciary Committee. A Senate source told CBS News that Democrats are preparing to go on the attack. And they believe they’ll have plenty to work with.
Even before Kirk’s killing, the FBI was reeling from an unprecedented purge of some of the most experienced FBI executives and line agents, depleting the agency of decades of experience, critics say. Mehtab Syed, the highly regarded head of the FBI’s Salt Lake City field office, was among the agents forced out at the end of July. That meant Robert Bohls, the new head of the office that was on the front lines of the shooting investigation, had only been in place for a few weeks at most when Kirk’s assassination took place.
Three elite former agents filed a lawsuit last week accusing Patel of summarily firing them at the direction of the White House. The lawsuit highlighted Patel’s focus on social media, arguing the agents’ dismissals came in response to criticism on social media from right-wing influencers. At the same time, according to the complaint, Patel has urged FBI field agents to be more active on social media to tout “FBI wins.”
One of the fired agents, former Washington field office Assistant Director Steven Jensen, expressed concern about Bongino’s “intense focus on increasing online engagement.” Jensen alleged that the “emphasis Bongino was placing on creating content for his social media feed could risk outweighing more deliberate analyses of investigations.”
It’s a concern that has been circulating quietly among longtime bureau veterans.
“You aren’t doing your job or leading an organization for the social media glory,” said Laycock.
Some officials who have interacted in person with Patel, say the director is misunderstood. As one law enforcement official described it to CBS News, Patel’s brash online personality stands in contrast to a low-key, friendly demeanor that he exhibits in meetings.
“He’s highly personable and even earnest,” one law enforcement official said of his multiple meetings with Patel.
Perhaps the most important person evaluating the director’s performance over the past week, however, appeared to approve of it. President Trump made clear he is backing his FBI director.
“I am very proud of the FBI,” Mr. Trump said in an interview with Fox News Digital on Saturday. “Kash – and everyone else – they have done a great job.”
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