Over the days of Sept. 16 and 17, FBI director Kash Patel testified for the first time before the Senate and House’s oversight committees. In these hearings, Patel highlighted the goals of the new administration while defending the actions of the agency during the first half of the year.
The main goals of the new administration brought up in Patel’s opening statement included an emphasis on combating cartels, the fentanyl crisis, and terrorism (both domestic and foreign). While the statistics of the FBI under the new administration that Patel brought up during the meetings, such as a two-fold increase in the arrest of violent criminals and a 35% increase in the amount of child trafficking victims recovered, would make it seem that the FBI is doing better than ever, much controversy has followed the Federal agency in recent months.
Considerable amounts of this controversy comes from two different cases: the assassanation of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10, and the ongoing connection between President Trump and Jeffery Epstein. The primary provocation of this came from Patel dining at an expensive restaurant hours after the shooting, afterwards tweeting that the suspect had been taken into custody, despite this person of interest being quickly released.
These actions were quickly scrutinized by multiple former and current FBI agents who saw it as the actions of a weak leader. Patel, however, was defended by White House staff who applauded his actions for someone who had to deal with such a stressful situation.
The other main controversy taking stand is the connection of President Trump to notorious child trafficker Jeffery Epstein. Before taking office, Trump promised full transparency with the Epstein case, saying that he would release all the documents to the public. This however has not come to fruition, with Patel, now in charge of the case, claiming that much of the speculated documentation, including an “Epstein list,” does not exist.
The reaction to this has been a bipartisan opposition, with even a Republican Senator imploring Patel during the hearing for more transparency on the case. Patel agreed, but he placed much of the blame on the delay of documents being released on the proceedings of the former FBI underneath the Biden administration.
Yet, an assassanation and international child trafficking ring are not the only things bringing judgement to the FBI. Part of the recent increase in law enforcement crackdowns on crime have added to accusations of an increasingly strong and authoritative government. Others however believe that these actions are necessary to combat issues that plague American society.
“I think that it’s possible that the FBI is being misused under Trump’s administration,” Hayes senior Slade Starr-Bowen said. “But, I think it’s important to keep in mind that measures are taken to ensure at least some level of separation between the bureaucracy and the president.”
Along with this, some misinterpretation of the powers of the FBI seems to be occurring. The agency does not direct the actions of local law enforcement, but instead aids them in their efforts or takes over when a case falls in multiple jurisdictions.
“Everytime we’ve reached out to [the FBI] for help they’ve always been able to give us what we need,” Hayes resource officer Joseph Kolp said. “It’s a good partnership that hopefully always continues so that we can use them. I know right now there is a lot of fear in the overstepping, that the federal government is gonna come in. In my experience here, locally, I haven’t seen that at all. Every time I worked with a federal agency, I didn’t even see those people in person.”
Other developments have even increased the need for FBI assistance for local law enforcement. With many crimes now being facilitated online, FBI resources are necessary to catch perpetrators.
“I often say that the types of things people do to each other haven’t changed, but the internet has changed how they do them,” Delaware Chief of Police Adam Moore said. “For example, thefts still occur, but now a criminal doesn’t have to break into a home to steal property—they can hack an account or deceive someone into revealing personal information. This shift complicates enforcement because the suspect no longer needs to be in Delaware—or even in the same country—to commit a crime here.”
This problem has even spread to Hayes itself.
“We had one case a few years ago where we had a threat get posted online, and we reached out and [the FBI] were able to track down a chatroom where this threat circulated,” Kolp said. “It ended up finding us some guy in Canada, didn’t even know Delaware. They were able to reach out to the Canadian police and they were able to do a little more than I can here in Delaware, Ohio.”
A similar process has developed with the expansion of the international drug trade. With much of the illicit substances consumed in America coming from places such as China and Central and South America, an increased importance has been put on the role of Federal agencies in cracking down on these crimes.
“Illicit drug trafficking isn’t just a local problem; it’s regional, national, and even international. Because the Delaware Police Department’s enforcement reach is limited to our jurisdiction, collaboration with our state and federal partners — whose authority extends beyond city boundaries — is essential,” Moore said. “This is where the FBI serves as a critical partner. Unfortunately, we’ve experienced both trafficking and overdoses here in the City of Delaware.”
This trafficking saw a major change with the emergence of the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
“[The fentanyl crisis is] definitely something that has spread all across the country, all agencies saw this boom,” Kolp said. “I started in 2010 and got to experience the explosion of the opioid addiction and the pill doctors that led to the heroin addiction, and then fentanyl moved in. We definitely saw an increase in overdoses here locally. We can combat it on a small level here in the city, but you’re not going to stop it until you get the bigger fish. What we’ll usually do is our police officers will do what we can here in the city, and then we pass information to the county drug task force who have a bigger reach.”
Overall, the recent FBI hearings in both the House and Senate oversight committees have revealed much of the issues plaguing American law enforcement. Globalization has complicated crime and the way it is dealt with. Along with this, the controversial failures of Federal law enforcement have gained increased attention in polarized America.
