WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Kash Patel is defending his record and pushing back on criticism that he has politicized law enforcement. The appearance Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee was the first oversight hearing of Patel’s young but tumultuous tenure. It provided a high-stakes platform for him to try to demonstrate that he is the right person to lead the FBI at a time of internal upheaval and mounting concerns about political violence after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Patel boasted that the man suspected in Kirk’s killing was arrested within 33 hours, but acknowledged he should have been more careful in a statement about the investigation.
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