On Monday, he appeared on Fox News's morning program as well as on Sean Hannity's prime-time slot. He touted the Federal Bureau of Investigation's muscle and credited his boots-on-the-ground approach for expediting an arrest.
"We -- I -- made the operational decision to immediately release enhanced videos and photographs of the suspect because the operational call I made for the FBI said, we are about to smoke this guy out," Patel told Hannity.
Patel has never been shy about building his own brand, but his public-relations offensive highlights a new urgency for a top law-enforcement official on the hot seat for his handling of the FBI's role in the investigation. Internally, he has garnered fresh criticism from rank-and-file agents who already were skeptical of him. Online, some conservative influencers have begun to raise questions about his leadership. And beginning Tuesday, he is set to face two days of questions on Capitol Hill from lawmakers eager to press him about the case and his seven-month tenure.
"There is a lot for him to answer to when he comes to testify," Sen. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), said in a video recording he posted online.
Patel, a former prosecutor-turned-political operative, shot back Monday afternoon on X, saying, "Let's find out who law enforcement backs...and who supports defunding the police."
Some current and former FBI officials say Patel has sent the bureau into turmoil and is more concerned with his public persona and the perks of office than he is with overseeing its day-to-day operations. The view among Patel's internal critics that he isn't up for the job hardened last week when he told his 1.8 million X followers that a suspect in the Kirk shooting had been captured, raising hopes of a quick arrest, only to backtrack about two hours later, saying the person had been released after questioning.
"Could I have worded it a little better in the heat of the moment? Sure," Patel said Monday morning on Fox News. "But do I regret putting it out? Absolutely not. I was telling the world what the FBI was doing...and I challenge anyone out there to find a director that has been more transparent."
Last Thursday, facing intensifying pressure to catch Kirk's killer, Patel on a conference call laced into agents involved in the Utah manhunt, saying they failed to give him timely information, including a photo of the suspect for more than 12 hours, according to people familiar with the call.
He flew to the scene that afternoon and appeared at an evening news conference wearing a raid jacket. At a Friday briefing in which Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced the arrest of suspect Tyler Robinson, Patel followed with remarks that touted the FBI's role and thanked Trump for his support.
Just the sight of the head of the FBI at a news conference about a primarily local crime was unusual, current and former officials said. Past directors generally left those announcements to lower-level supervisors who are closer to the investigation, largely staying out of the limelight.
"He has no background, skill, capability or suitability to be the FBI director, it's just that simple," one former senior FBI official, Christopher O'Leary, said.
Even some conservative activists found the performance unsettling. One, Christopher Rufo, questioned whether a Patel-led FBI "has the operational expertise to investigate, infiltrate, and disrupt the violent movements -- of whatever ideology -- that threaten the peace in the United States."
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung accused those questioning Patel's ability of "using this extremely sad moment in a disgusting act of political gamesmanship."
Trump has publicly praised Patel's handling of the Kirk investigation, but support for him within the administration has been more mixed, people familiar with the matter said. Last month, the White House tapped Andrew Bailey, the attorney general of Missouri, to share the position of deputy director with former conservative podcaster Dan Bongino, an unusual move that many in government interpreted as an acknowledgment the bureau needs leadership help.
The Kirk shooting came after a recent purge of veteran agents at the bureau, on top of retirements and other departures that have cost the bureau decades of experience in counterintelligence, terrorism and other criminal matters. Patel has pulled hundreds of agents off their normal duties to help with the Trump administration's priority of immigration enforcement, in which the FBI has historically played little to no role.
He has also enlisted agents in crackdowns on violent crime that have normally been the work of the local police. Some agents have privately expressed concern that the recalibration has left them less well prepared to confront and prevent terrorism and other national-security threats that have been at the heart of the bureau's mission, which an FBI spokesman rejected.
Shortly before the shooting Wednesday, three of the ousted officials sued Patel, alleging their firings last month were part of a "campaign of retribution" for their "failure to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty."