Michael Feinberg on Kirk’s Shooter: Kash Patel Identified Someone in Custody Then Backtracked, That Undermines Confidence in His Future Pronouncements

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
SOBOROFF: “What are your I mean, as you said, there have been some really particularly pointed concerns over the first 36 hours of this investigation. What are your concerns as it relates to the FBI going forward?”

FEINBERG: “I thought that Kash Patel’s decision to provide real time updates over Twitter or x or whatever you want to call it, in addition to just sort of flying in the face of FBI culture and law enforcement norms, was the sort of thing that could actually do real harm to the investigation. You know, he identified somebody who was in custody as being the subject. And then, you know, less than an hour later, backtracked on that, that only not that not only undermines confidence in his future pronouncements, it also undermines how much people trust the local officials who are giving a press conference in between those tweets. And, you know, law enforcement is able to do its job better when even if there’s skepticism, there’s a baseline of trust with the community. And the other thing that has really rubbed me a little bit, and I have not seen discussed often, is patel often referenced during this investigation, his personal relationship with Mr. Kirk? And I’m not saying that as a value judgment. I’m saying that as somebody who worked in law enforcement, any investigator, any prosecutor would know if you had a personal relationship with the deceased, with the victim, the more you involve yourself in the investigation, the more you’re going to cause people to question why certain steps have been taken. Was it out of operational necessity, or was it because you were particularly incensed and emotional about the loss of a friend?”