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2d ago

FBI’s Kash Patel Faces Backlash Over Podcast Appearance as Brown Shooter Hunt Continues

The uproar renews scrutiny of his premature public statements, with investigators still seeking the gunman.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel is seen during a bill signing to award Congressional Gold Medals to the 1980 U.S. Olympic ice hockey team in the Oval Office at the White House Dec. 12, 2025.
FBI Director Kash Patel conducts a news conference on Dec. 4 at the Department of Justice.
Emergency personnel work the scene, block off several buildings and establish a crime scene security cordon at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after a mass shooting that killed two people and wounded eight others. Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 15: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after a ceremony for the presentation of the Mexican Border Defense Medal in the Oval Office of the White House on December 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. During the ceremony, Trump recognized the first 13 service members to receive the recently established Mexican Border Defense Medal (MBDM), which recognizes service members supporting Customs and Border Protection on the U.S.-Mexico border. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Overview

  • The suspect in the Dec. 13 Brown University shooting remains at large after two students, Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, were killed and nine others wounded, as the FBI releases images of a person of interest and offers a reward of up to $50,000.
  • Director Kash Patel had announced a detained 'person of interest' in a Coventry hotel, but the individual was released the same day as Rhode Island officials said evidence did not support keeping him in custody.
  • A promotional clip for Katie Miller’s podcast featuring Patel and his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, drew heavy criticism over timing during the manhunt, though Miller later said the episode was recorded before Sunday and it was released Tuesday evening.
  • Criticism has come from across the spectrum, including former prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, commentator Megyn Kelly, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s press office, and former FBI personnel, who fault Patel’s messaging and judgment.
  • The White House says President Trump continues to support Patel, even as congressional probes and internal complaints examine his leadership and reported use of FBI resources, following earlier corrections to public statements such as in the Charlie Kirk case.