'Most transparent' FBI ever: Patel updates Senate on Kirk assassination probe

WATCH LIVE: Lawmakers grill Kash Patel on his tenure as FBI director at Senate hearing

Patel faces questioning on his ability to lead the nation's top law enforcement agency as the FBI investigates the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

FBI Director Kash Patel vowed that the bureau would continue on a quest for transparency during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee as criticism of his handling of the Charlie Kirk assassination investigation lingers.

In his opening statement to the committee obtained by Fox News Digital, Patel listed a series of accomplishments the agency has achieved since President Donald Trump took office, including tens of thousands of arrests, a realignment of the agency and an emphasis on cracking down on illicit drugs.

Patel acknowledged the growing criticism over his direction of the FBI, and challenged lawmakers on the panel to come after him. 

"I'm not going anywhere," he said. "If you want to criticize my 16 years of service, please bring it on."

Patel kicked off his testimony by offering an update on the FBI’s investigation into the "appalling assassination of Charlie Kirk."

KASH PATEL'S FBI LEADERSHIP UNDER SCRUTINY AHEAD OF SENATE JUDICIARY OVERSIGHT HEARING

FBI Director Kash Patel opened his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee with an update on the investigation into the assassination of Charlie Kirk as scrutiny lingers on his handling of the case.  (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

"It’s important that the FBI is as transparent as possible without jeopardizing our investigation," Patel said.

The FBI chief listed off numerous findings in the case, including an "extensive review" of suspect Tyler Robinson’s accounts and devices, and said that more than 100 interviews had been conducted since the shooting, and the FBI has received more than 11,000 submissions through the National Threat Operations Center and more than 16,000 submissions through the Digital Media Tipline.

"We are making a traditionally nontransparent agency, the most transparent it has ever been," Patel said.

He lauded the public participation in the case, too, and noted that the tens of thousands of tips that poured in helped in identifying a suspect.

"Tyler Robinson is in custody today because of this partnership," he said.

KNIVES ARE OUT FOR EMBATTLED FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL, DESPITE TRUMP SUPPORT

Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk arrives to speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at Thomas & Mack Center, Oct. 24, 2024, in Las Vegas.  (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

Patel’s appearance before the committee had been on the books for weeks before Kirk’s death and was initially intended as an annual oversight hearing of the FBI. However, his handling of the investigation, social media misfires and a wave of firings at the agency have generated fresh scrutiny over his leadership.

Patel came under the microscope for a post he made on X in the hours after Kirk was killed, where he wrote, "The subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody."

However, that individual and another were caught and released before law enforcement nabbed 22-year-old Robinson, some 33 hours after the shooting.

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, addressed Kirk briefly in his opening remarks, saying, "God bless you, Charlie Kirk."

The chair, who has advocated whistleblowers for decades, then dove into lengthy remarks about government weaponization and praised Patel for compensating what he said were 10 FBI employees who lost their security clearances in recent years.

"In the short amount of time you’ve been director, you’ve corrected whistleblower retaliation and increased transparency more than any other FBI director I’ve seen, and I’ve been around here more than anyone else on this committee," Grassley said.

KASH PATEL TORCHES ‘CONSPIRACY THEORIES’ ABOUT BONDI FEUD AMID MAGA FUROR OVER EPSTEIN FILES

Patel repeatedly stressed that he has made strides to transform the agency into a more transparent organization and used the release of the "Epstein files" as an example.

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were both indicted on federal sex trafficking charges stemming from Epstein's years of abuse of underage girls.  (Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

However, earlier this year a memo from the FBI stated that "it is the determination of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted," after investigating the tens of thousands of documents associated with Jeffrey Epstein.

That triggered a firestorm on Capitol Hill that is still roiling. Patel argued that the "original sin" of the Epstein case began in the early 2000s, where "very limited search warrants that didn’t intake as much material into the FBI possession as it should have" were issued.  

"If I were FBI director then, I wouldn’t have allowed such a limited search warrant to be issued for these types of atrocious offenses," he said.

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He argued that under former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, Epstein was allowed to enter into a plea deal with non-prosecution agreements, "plus the courts issued protective orders and sealed large volumes of material from ever being disclosed."

"The non-prosecution barred any future criminal culpability for this entire time period," Patel said.  "Still, this administration has done more than any of the previous administrations to seek transparency in this case."

"[The] DOJ has made motions to the court to unseal grand jury records on multiple occasions, but the courts have denied these motions," he continued. "Further, it was the first Trump administration that brought the renewed case against Epstein in 2019. Under the direction of this president, we have turned over ALL credible information in conjunction with our partners in Congress."

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.