The Latest: Kash Patel to face Senate questions over probe into Charlie Kirk’s killing

FBI Director Kash Patel will confront skeptical Senate Democrats at a congressional hearing Tuesday at 9 a.m. ET, likely to be dominated by questions about the investigation into Charlie Kirk’s killing as well as the firings of senior officials who have accused him of illegal political retribution.

Patel’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee is the first oversight hearing of his young but tumultuous tenure and provides a high-stakes platform for him to try to reassure wary lawmakers that he is the right person for the job at a time of internal upheaval and mounting concerns about political violence inside the U.S., which President Donald Trump has sought to blame squarely on the left.

Vice President JD Vance called on the public to turn in anyone who says distasteful things about his friend and political ally, a staunch free speech advocate. “When you see someone celebrating Charlie’s murder, call them out,” Vance said Monday. “And hell, call their employer.”

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The Trump administration has added Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in nearly three decades. The move reflects a decade-long boom in cocaine production in Colombia. Trump said Monday that the military had separately targeted a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three aboard the vessel.

Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Trump’s actions are “a dangerous assault on our Constitution” that could plunge the United States into another needless war.”

“No president can secretly wage war or carry out unjustified killings – that is authoritarianism, not democracy,” Reed said in a statement. “These reckless, unauthorized operations not only put American lives at risk, they threaten to ignite a war with Venezuela that would drag our nation into a conflict we did not choose. The American people deserve to know what is being done in their name and why,” he said.

After the latest round of trade talks between the world’s top two economies concluded in Madrid, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at a news conference that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping would speak Friday to possibly finalize the deal. He said the objective of the deal would be to switch to U.S. ownership.

The visit announced Monday after the U.S. secretary of state’s meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel comes as the region is still reeling from Israel’s strike targeting Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital, Doha. The U.S. has sought to ease tensions between Israel and Qatar, two close American allies.

Netanyahu and Rubio stood shoulder-to-shoulder in Jerusalem and downplayed the furor that had, at least for a short time, taken the Trump administration aback. There were no signs of U.S. frustration or annoyance with Israel’s latest moves, although President Donald Trump had made clear his displeasure with Israel’s unilateral strike on Hamas in Qatar.

While speaking at a summit over Israel’s attack last week, Qatar’s ruling emir accused Israel of not caring about its hostages held in the Gaza Strip and instead only working to “ensure Gaza is no longer livable.”

The president said Monday that he would favor labeling antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.

“I would do that, 100 percent,” Trump said during a question-and-answer session with reporters in the Oval Office. He added: “Antifa is terrible.”

Antifa, short for “anti-fascists,” is an umbrella term for far-left militant groups.

Trump’s previous FBI director, Christopher Wray, said in testimony in 2020 that antifa is an ideology, not an organization, lacking the hierarchical structure that would usually allow it to be designated as a terror group by the federal government.