FBI Director Kash Patel said in his opening statement Tuesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that the "original sin" in the case against Jeffrey Epstein was committed nearly 20 years ago in one of the first prosecutions brought against the disgraced financier.
WATCH: Patel says 'FBI will not be weaponized anymore' on either side of the aisle
"The original case involved a very limited search warrant, or set of search warrants, and didn't take as much investigatory material it should have seized," Patel said.
He also said court-ordered mandates and protective orders, as well as Epstein's plea deal and non-prosecution agreement with the government, have made the FBI's current work more difficult.
"Still, this administration, at the direction of President Trump, has done more to turn over all the credible information we are legally able to do so, and we will continue to work with Congress to achieve that end," Patel said.
The Trump administration has faced bipartisan pressure to release its files on the Epstein case, which the president and other officials have called a "hoax."
Patel has been under fire in recent days for social media posts he made about the Charlie Kirk shooting investigation and for dining out at an upscale Manhattan restaurant hours after the conservative activist was killed.
Last week, three former high-ranking FBI officials sued Patel, alleging they were fired in August as part of a "campaign of retribution" and that the director knew it was "likely illegal" to remove workers based on the cases they investigated.