The head of the FBI will testify to Congress on Sept. 16 and 17, a week after the assassination of Charlie Kirk in Utah led to criticism from across the political spectrum about the federal law enforcement response.

Kash Patel has faced criticism from the left for lacking law enforcement experience since President Donald Trump nominated him to head the FBI earlier this year. Now Patel is facing new criticism from conservative activists for his handling of the Kirk shooting investigation.

Among the criticisms, people are upset that he kept his dinner reservation at a hard-to-get-into New York restaurant on the night of Kirk's killing, that he tweeted unverified information about a subject's arrest, that he took too long to release a photo of the suspect, that he failed to ensure there was better security at the crime scene in Utah and that he made improper public statements about the case.

“It is time for Republicans to assess whether Kash Patel is the right man to run the FBI,” conservative influencer Christopher Rufo wrote on social media Sept. 12. “He performed terribly in the last few days.”

The administration says Patel has been exemplary in his response.

“Director Patel and his team worked night and day to find this murderer and bring him to justice," White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told USA TODAY in a statement. "Anyone who doubts his resolve and dedication - especially when Charlie was such a close friend to him- simply is using this extremely sad moment in a disgusting act of political gamesmanship."

Patel has also defended his agency, saying in a Fox News appearance on Sept. 15, “We flexed all resources the FBI had and surged multiple air assets as soon as this shooting occurred," and noting, ”We were cycling in agents, evidence response technicians, hostage response technicians, and special operators in and out of Utah.”

Patel faces a Senate panel at 9 a.m. on Sept. 16 and a House panel at 10 a.m. on Sept. 17. These are regularly scheduled Congressional oversight hearings where the Kirk assassination investigation is expected to take center stage.

Premature victory declared

Within hours after the Sept. 10 shooting, law enforcement twice said that they had caught the shooter, but a suspect was not arrested until almost two days later, when the FBI announced a family friend had turned in a 22-year-old who implied his guilt to them.

Utah Valley University reported 20 minutes after the shooting that it had a suspect in custody, only to retract it within a half hour.

Patel prematurely declared victory hours later, writing on social media that “the subject for the horrific shooting” was in custody. “Thank you to the local and state authorities in Utah for your partnership with @fbi.” He later said that the subject had been released, essentially retracting the statement.

Former FBI agents and homeland security officials are widely criticizing this choice.

“I’m sorry, but he is announcing an arrest, and by that coming from the top, the public feels disarmed,” said Scott Duffey, a retired supervisor and special agent for the FBI. “‘We can go out now. We can do this. We can do that.’”

Duffey said statements carry significantly more weight when they come from the FBI director, and it’s rare for the FBI director himself to make the announcement. “It is a misstep, and the FBI has to own it,” he said.

Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, also said he expects Patel to face questions about this statement. "I understand it's a high-profile case, very newsworthy case, but you should not be the director of the FBI saying things that are untrue or not vetted," Rahmani said.

Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee that oversees the FBI, blasted Patel’s comments and questioned his ability to lead the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency.

“It was amateur hour,” Durbin told HuffPost. “He was doing a running commentary. Historically, the FBI keeps its mouth closed until it believes it’s the right time and the right message.”

"Could I have worded it a little better in the heat of the moment? Sure," Patel said on Fox News. "But do I regret putting it out? Absolutely not."

Meanwhile, multiple news outlets reported Patel was dining that night at the upscale and famously hard-to-get-into New York restaurant Rao's while posting his rolling updates.

An unsecured crime scene

Patel and the FBI are also under fire for how long it took them to release pictures of the suspect, how they handled the crime scene and for the amount of money they were offering as a reward.

The FBI didn’t release photos of the suspect until about 20 hours after the shooting, at 10 a.m. local time on Sept. 11. But Patel said on Fox News that he personally sped up the release of those photos. Patel said that it took the FBI three days to release pictures of suspects after the Boston Marathon bombing.

The day after the fatal shooting, a USA TODAY reporter was able to walk around in the small wooded area behind the building where the suspect shot from, and witnessed FBI agents collecting evidence from the crime scene, which did not get roped off until nearly 24 hours after the shooting. Only after several reporters began observing the site and taking photographs did officers arrive to tape off the area with crime scene tape.

Patel said on Fox News that the gun used in the shooting was discarded in a wooded area with a towel wrapped around it.

In a separate incident, a USA TODAY reporter was able to walk into the operations center for the investigation without being challenged or asked for identification, something that typically happens when someone enters that restricted area on a federal investigation. The reporter observed agents for more than an hour before being questioned and asked to leave.

“I would say that’s problematic,” Duffey said. “That’s almost like someone just walking into a doctor’s office who’s examining a patient and, ‘I’m just observing.’ No, get the heck out.”

Duffey said an area that someone can walk in freely hasn’t been secured. He offered examples of how a team should station a single FBI agent at an entrance to make sure unauthorized visitors don’t enter.

Some have also critiqued the incentive law enforcement offered for help. On Sept. 11, the FBI offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of Kirk’s killer. Conservative activist Laura Loomer, who has visited Trump at the White House before, criticized the sum as too low.

"So the DOJ and FBI are willing to offer $50 million for information about @NicolasMaduro, but only $100,000 for information about who killed Charlie Kirk on American soil in a cold blooded assassination?!?" Loomer wrote.

“This is honestly embarrassing for the FBI and our country,” she wrote. “What a slap in the face to Charlie Kirk.”

Sharing details of the investigation

Now, Patel is under scrutiny for what he's saying publicly about the investigation, not just on Twitter but in his Fox News appearance.

Patel publicly described evidence against the suspect and announced that the suspect's DNA was confirmed on a towel wrapped around the gun and a screwdriver that officials say he left in the area after he allegedly shot Kirk.

Patel said family members of the suspect said the suspect had started subscribing to leftist ideals in recent years, and that the suspect told someone via text message that he had an opportunity to take out Kirk and was going to do it.

Rahmani, the former prosecutor, said statements by Patel and other Justice Department officials could raise concerns about tainting the jury pool in a future trial. That kind of concern has already come up in the federal death penalty case against Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing a health insurance executive on the street in New York City. A judge in Mangione's case instructed prosecutors to stop talking about it publicly for fear that their comments could jeopardize Mangione's right to a fair trial.

"With respect to public statements, that is a big deal," Rahmani said. "I can see a judge potentially in this case telling the Department of Justice to really stop commenting about the case."

Top officials, however, backed Patel.

“We work with Director Patel every single day and fully support his leadership at the FBI," Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a joint statement. "The suspect is in handcuffs today because of the outstanding work of Director Patel and our law enforcement partners.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kash Patel faces criticism from all sides for handling of Charlie Kirk investigation

Reporting by Erin Mansfield, Will Carless, Aysha Bagchi, Josh Meyer and Christopher Cann, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect