WASHINGTON — Hours after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, FBI Director Kash Patel declared online that “the subject” in the killing was in custody. The shooter was not.

The two men who had been detained were quickly released. Utah officials acknowledged that the gunman remained at large.

The false assurance spotlighted the high-stakes uncertainty surrounding Patel’s leadership of the bureau when its credibility is under extraordinary pressure, as is his own.

Patel now approaches congressional oversight hearings this week facing not just questions about that investigation but broader doubts about whether he can stabilize the federal law enforcement agency.

Democrats are poised to press him on a purge of senior executives that has prompted a lawsuit, his pursuit o

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