FBI Director Kash Patel was spotted dining at a high-end restaurant in New York City just a few hours after the murder of Charlie Kirk. On the same night, the FBI made significant errors twice in attempting to catch his murderer.

The 45-year-old former MAGA podcaster who became a spy chief is facing growing criticism for the agency’s mishandling of the case following the shocking incident at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.

Hours after the killing, Patel took to X to announce that the ‘subject’ in Kirk’s murder was finally ‘in custody.’ 

In a post shared at 6:21 pm, the director wrote: ‘Thank you to the local and state authorities in Utah for your partnership with the FBI.’

However, just over an hour later, at 7:59 pm, Patel reversed his previous statement by announcing that the suspect ‘has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement.’

Two sources with knowledge of his movements revealed that he was actually in New York City that evening, dining at Rao’s – the high-end Italian hotspot that opens at 7pm promptly, as reported by NBC News.

In the chaotic aftermath of the assassination, 71-year-old George Zinn was cuffed and hauled away by police at the scene.

While rumors instantly swirled that Zinn may have been the shooting suspect, authorities quickly announced this was not the case and the culprit was still at large. 

Then, Patel – likely still waiting to be seated at the packed Manhattan hotspot – prematurely declared that a suspect was in custody, a claim he swiftly walked back while allegedly hundreds of miles from Utah. 

‘Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency,’ he wrote in the post announcing the sudden release of the ‘suspect.’

The on Thursday, the Daily Mail observed federal agents escort veteran Jason Christopher Hartley from his home. He was questioned in connection with the shooting and released without charge shortly after.

Meanwhile, the frantic search for the killer continued. 

These consecutive failures thrust Patel into hot water, fueling growing concerns about his ability to competently manage a case of such high profile importance.

One law enforcement official described the ‘horrific event’ of Kirk’s murder as a clear demonstration of Patel’s ‘public inability to meet the moment as a leader,’ according to NBC.

‘It was amateur hour,’ Senator Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told HuffPost on Thursday.

‘He was doing a running commentary,’ he added. ‘Historically, the FBI keeps its mouth closed until it believes it’s the right time and the right message.’  

Conservative activist Chris Rufo wrote on X: ‘He performed terribly in the last few days, and it’s not clear whether he has the operational expertise to investigate, infiltrate, and disrupt the violent movements – of whatever ideology – that threaten the peace in the United States.’ 

In response to questions about whether Patel was at the restaurant when he posted about the investigation, the FBI issued a statement of its own. 

The statement to NBC said that the FBI ‘worked with our law enforcement partners in Utah to bring to justice the individual allegedly responsible for the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk, and we will continue to be transparent with the American people with real time updates as we are able.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to the FBI for additional comment.  

Patel reportedly held an expletive-laden conference call with over 200 FBI personnel Thursday morning, warning his agents that he would no longer tolerate any more ‘Mickey Mouse operations,’ according to The New York Times.

During the call, he allegedly ‘lost it’ on agents for bungling the investigation into Kirk’s killer, all while upending the probe himself by congratulating state and federal officials for wrongfully detaining a person as ‘the subject for the horrific shooting.’

He slammed employees for failing to provide timely updates and specifically blamed agents in Salt Lake City, claiming the local FBI didn’t show him a photo of the suspected killer for 12 hours. 

But just weeks earlier, Patel had dismissed the head of the Salt Lake City FBI field office for reasons that remain unclear. 

Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, admitted to feeling immense pressure to succeed and demonstrate their ability to lead a manhunt – a fear that, in the end, became a grim reality, according to the NYT.

The confusion and public backtracking in the immediate hours after Kirk’s death came on the heels of a lawsuit filed by three former FBI agents against the FBI, the Department of Justice, the White House, and senior officials – including Patel. 

In the lawsuit, the former agents alleged they were targeted for refusing to carry out controversial directives – including firing disfavored colleagues and compiling lists of individuals who had worked on Trump-related investigations, according to The Independent.

Brian Driscoll, who served as the FBI’s acting director earlier this year, claimed that Patel suggested his superiors at the White House and DOJ ‘directed him to fire anyone who they identified as having worked on a criminal investigation against President Donald J. Trump.’ 

The lawsuit also portrayed Patel and his deputy, Bongino, as out of their depth, politically motivated, and so fixated on social media that ‘it could risk outweighing more deliberate analyses of investigations,’ the outlet reported.

Both Patel and Bongino allegedly told FBI officials that they should be ‘posting more about their successful investigations and other “FBI wins” on social media,’ according to the suit. 

On Thursday night, authorities delivered a critical update in the manhunt for the assassin – all while Patel remained stone-faced. 

Utah’s Republican Governor Spencer Cox presented video footage of the shooter fleeing the scene, while Patel, who had flown to Utah for the briefing, neither took questions nor addressed the public. 

Social media users along with government officials quickly ridiculed him for his deer-in-headlights demeanor while serving as director. 

Steve Bannon, a former Trump administration advisor, told The Hill: ‘I don’t know why Kash flew out there, you know, thousands of miles, to give us, “Hey, working partnerships and our great partnership in Utah” – OK, got that.’ 

‘He flew all the way there and didn’t say a word. I don’t get it! Something else is going on!’ one comment read.

Another added: ‘Don’t worry guys Kash Patel is clearly on the case. I mean look at how he checks every last nook and cranny in the press conference room to see if the assassin might actually be there with them.’

Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Washington, Utah, and former student at Utah State University was arrested Thursday night following a tip-off from his family members.