The Latest: Kash Patel confronts Senate questions over probe into Charlie Kirk’s killing

FBI Director Kash Patel is confronting skeptical Senate Democrats at a congressional hearing Tuesday that s likely to be dominated by questions about the inquiry into Charlie Kirk s killing as well as the firings of senior leaders who have accused him of illegal political retribution Patel s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee is the first oversight hearing of his young but tumultuous tenure and provides a high-stakes platform for him to try to reassure wary lawmakers that he is the right person for the job at a time of internal upheaval and mounting concerns about political violence inside the U S which President Donald Trump has sought to blame squarely on the left Vice President JD Vance called on the citizens to turn in anyone who says distasteful things about his friend and political ally a staunch free speech advocate When you see someone celebrating Charlie s murder call them out Vance noted Monday And hell call their employer The Latest Patel projects defiance Patel has concluded his opening comment before the Senate Judiciary Committee with a bit of a challenge for his critics I m not going anywhere The FBI director pointed to his experience as a congressional staffer and Trump administration official saying If you want to criticize my years of organization please bring it on Senate Republicans have continued to express confidence in Patel despite criticism from particular conservative commentators of how he s led the FBI s response to the killing of Charlie Kirk Democrats meanwhile will intensely question Patel over what they say is a highly politicized approach to the FBI Trump says Robert Redford was great The president reacted to news of the famed actor s death and reported he made seven or eight great movies He had a series of years where there was nobody better he announced Read the AP s coverage of Robert Redford s death and legacy Durbin calls for lower temperature after Kirk s death The Illinois Democrat says both political parties have a responsibility to bring down the temperature and encourage unity following Kirk s killing In his opening remarks earlier in the hearing Durbin stated Democrats are not responsible for Kirk s death just as Republicans are not responsible for the killing of a Democratic state lawmaker in Minnesota earlier this year The country is going through a period of division and political violence he explained but Republicans are not Nazis Democrats are not evil Patel touts shift of FBI to target violent crime Patel s opening remarks highlighted his efforts to transform the bureau to focus on combating violent crime Patel disclosed the FBI has arrested more than violent criminals this year an increase compared with last year He also touted the FBI s efforts to target drug trafficking and violent drug cartels Critics have raised concerns that the focus on immigration enforcement and violent crime could divert attention from the FBI s ability to focus on matters like counterterrorism Patel gives a timeline of FBI s response to Kirk shooting He has faced specific criticism from conservative corners about how he has led the FBI in the wake of the shooting but Patel communicated the Senate panel that his agency at my direction successfully brought the suspect in Charlie Kirk s killing into custody He also has touted the number of arrests made by the FBI saying it represents an increase from the Biden administration We are leading the mission to crush violent crime and defend the homeland Patel explained Trump warns Hamas not use hostages as human shields as Israel s Gaza City operation begins We re going to see what happens because I hear Hamas is trying to use the old human shield deal And if they do that they re going to be in big trouble Trump commented Trump in a Monday post on Truth Social declared that he had read a news description indicating that Hamas would use the captives as human shields The Israeli military began a ground offensive targeting Gaza City on Tuesday slowly squeezing in on the Palestinian territory s largest city that has seen block after block already destroyed in the Israel-Hamas war Residents still in the city were warned they must leave and head south The push marks yet another escalation in a conflict that has roiled the Middle East as any probable ceasefire feels even further out of reach despite months of diplomacy Read more on the latest developments causing tension in the Mideast Trump calls King Charles III Queen Camilla friends as he prepares to depart for U K The president noted they ve been friends of mine for a long time called the king an elegant gentleman and explained I think he represents the country so well The president speaking as he was leaving the White House announced that U K officers want to continue exchange negotiations during his coming visit They d like to see if they can get a little bit better deal so we ll talk to them he reported Durbin says Patel came to FBI with a political mission The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee Dick Durbin opened his remarks by criticizing Patel for the removal of career FBI executives and the diversion of agents to help with immigration enforcement Durbin called Patel arguably the greater part partisan FBI director ever saying he has already inflicted untold damage on the FBI Durbin accused Patel of putting the country s national precaution and inhabitants safety at menace Grassley lists GOP criticism of past FBI probes The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee opened the hearing by running through a list of GOP criticisms of FBI investigations related to politics Those ranged from the prosecution of White House adviser Peter Navarro for his response to a congressional subpoena to the probe into Hillary Clinton s use of a private email server He also pledged to release new whistleblower records Kash Patel hearing kicks off Republican Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley opened the hearing expressing sympathy for the fatal shooting last week of Charlie Kirk which is under FBI scrutiny Grassley decried Kirk s political assassination calling Kirk a man of God faith family and country Suspect in Charlie Kirk shooting likely to face charges Tuesday Prosecutors are preparing to file a capital murder charge Tuesday against the Utah man who agents say held a leftist ideology and may have been radicalized online before he was arrested in the assassination of Charlie Kirk Charges against -year-old Tyler Robinson are expected to come ahead of Tuesday s first court hearing since he was accused last week of shooting Kirk a conservative activist credited with energizing the Republican youth movement and helping Donald Trump win back the White House in Wall Street mostly higher ahead of retail sales facts and Fed interest rate decision U S indices were mostly higher early Tuesday after Wall Street set new records and investor expectation grew that the Federal Reserve will announce its first interest rate cut of on Wednesday S P futures rose before the bell Tuesday while Big Tech stocks pulled Nasdaq futures higher Futures for the Dow Jones industrials were unchanged Oracle shares jumped on speculation it would play a major part in the U S -China deal to keep TikTok operating in the U S after the Trump administration stated the framework of a transaction deal on Monday U S Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed after the latest round of pact talks between the world s two largest economies that Trump and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping would speak Friday to possibly finalize the deal Retail sales up in August from July even as tariffs hurt jobs and lead to price hikes Shoppers increased their spending at a better-than-expected pace in August from July helped by back-to-school purchases even as Trump s tariffs are starting to hurt the job region and lead to price hikes Retail sales rose last month from July when sales were up a revised according to the Commerce Department s assessment The performance informed Tuesday was also likely helped by the continued efforts by Americans to keep pushing up purchases ahead of expected price increases and higher prices could be bolstering the number as well Georgia Supreme Court declines to hear Fani Willis appeal in Trump ballot circumstance Citing an appearance of impropriety created by a romantic relationship Fulton County District Attorney had with special prosecutor Nathan Wade the Georgia Court of Appeals had ruled that she and her office not continue to prosecute the development referendum interference occurrence against Donald Trump and others Steve Sadow Trump s attorney in the Georgia scenario revealed in a declaration that Willis deserved nothing less than disqualification A spokesperson for Willis did not straightaway respond to a text message seeking comment The decision means it will be up to the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia to find another prosecutor who could continue on the track that Willis has taken decide to pursue only particular charges or dismiss the scenario altogether US designates Colombia uncooperative in drug war The Trump administration has added Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in nearly three decades The move reflects a decade-long boom in cocaine production in Colombia Trump stated Monday that the military had separately targeted a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela killing three aboard the vessel Sen Jack Reed of Rhode Island the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee noted Trump s actions are a dangerous assault on our Constitution that could plunge the United States into another needless war No president can secretly wage war or carry out unjustified killings that is authoritarianism not democracy Reed revealed in a report These reckless unauthorized operations not only put American lives at exposure they threaten to ignite a war with Venezuela that would drag our nation into a conflict we did not choose The American people deserve to know what is being done in their name and why he announced US and China reach framework deal on TikTok After the latest round of deal talks between the world s top two economies concluded in Madrid U S Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared at a news conference that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping would speak Friday to possibly finalize the deal He noted the objective of the deal would be to switch to U S ownership Qatar s emir and Rubio discuss the Israeli attack on Hamas in Doha Qatar reported Tuesday its ruling emir spoke to the U S secretary of state about defense cooperation and the consequences of the Israeli attack on Doha Majed al-Ansari a spokesman for Qatar s Foreign Ministry gave the readout of the talks between Rubio and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani The two men also spoke about mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip he added while harshly criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the attack last week on Doha that killed six people If Prime Minister Netanyahu wants peace he knew the road to peace a long time ago He just decided not to go through it and he decided to mediate in bad fate al-Ansari declared And therefore the questions about the fate of their mediation should be inquired of he who is bombing the mediators and those who he is talking with on the negotiating table Trump says he favors labeling antifa domestic terrorist organization The president commented Monday that he would favor labeling antifa as a domestic terrorist organization I would do that percent Trump stated during a question-and-answer session with reporters in the Oval Office He added Antifa is terrible Antifa short for anti-fascists is an umbrella term for far-left militant groups Trump s previous FBI director Christopher Wray revealed in testimony in that antifa is an ideology not an organization lacking the hierarchical structure that would usually allow it to be designated as a terror group by the federal establishment Source