Kash Patel Refuses to Take a Republican’s Lifeline

The FBI director allowed a Senate hearing to turn into a discussion of bestiality.

Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP September 16, 2026, 6:41 PM ET Share Save This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.

President Trump appointed Kash Patel to lead the FBI not because of his brief experience in law enforcement but because he is a political brawler. The problem, as Patel demonstrated yesterday, is that he is not a very good one: No skilled political messenger would have allowed nearly every headline about a Senate hearing to connect their name and agency with bestiality.