Senator Van Hollen Questions Kash Patel Over Allegations of Misconduct and Drinking During FBI Confirmation Hearing
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Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) pressed Patel over allegations involving excessive drinking and claims that FBI personnel had difficulty reaching him.
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NBC NewsFBI Director Kash Patel got into a heated exchange with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., on Tuesday at a Senate hearing that included accusations of overconsumption of alcohol and day-drinking.
New York PostFBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday questioned why Sen. Chris Van Hollen would have “margaritas with a felon” and run up a $7,000 bar tab in Washington, DC — before daring the Maryland Democrat to take a test alongside him for alcohol dependency.
New York Times“I will not be tarnished by baseless allegations,” Mr. Patel said angrily. The director went on to accuse Mr. Van Hollen of inappropriate drinking, pointing to a visit the senator made to El Salvador last April to meet Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an immigrant the Trump administration mistakenly sent from Maryland to a high-security foreign prison.
The Daily WirePatel and Van Hollen clashed during a hearing earlier on Tuesday over claims published in The Atlantic that the FBI chief had a drinking problem. After the hearing, Patel posted a campaign filing from December 12, 2025, showing that Van Hollen’s campaign spent $7,128 during an event at the Lobby Bar in D.C.
Washington Times“I will not be tarnished by baseless allegations and fraudulent statements to the media,” Patel told Sen. Chris Van Hollen during a testy exchange that began when the Maryland Democrat confronted him about a recent article in The Atlantic magazine that painted an unflattering portrait of his leadership of the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency.
HuffPostPatel seemed to snap at Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) for reiterating allegations of excessive drinking, erratic behavior and unexplained absences, including those made in a bombshell Atlantic piece published last month.
Fox NewsDuring a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Van Hollen pointed to allegations of "erratic" behavior, "excessive drinking" and "unexplained absences" outlined in the report. Patel has denied the claims.
ABC NewsWhile it's a hearing regarding the 2027 budget request, Patel is expected to face questions about a host of issues from the alleged misuse of FBI resources for travel to the story in The Atlantic that alleged he has had "bouts of excessive drinking" and job performance issues.
The HillPatel agrees to take alcohol test after heated exchange with Van Hollen FBI Director Kash Patel said he would commit to taking a test about his alcohol use after a testy exchange with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) in which each traded accusations with the other. Patel said he would take the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), as long as he did it “side by side”…
PBS NewsHourWATCH: FBI Director Kash Patel, ATF, DEA heads testify in Senate hearing FBI Director Kash Patel angrily lashed out at a Democratic lawmaker at a budget hearing Tuesday, calling allegations that he drinks excessively on the job and has been unreachable at times to his staff "unequivocally, categorically false."
The AtlanticRarely if ever in the past have presidential appointees launched harsh personal attacks against members of Congress. In this administration, it’s routine. In one of the strangest moments of the hearing, Patel responded to Van Hollen’s questions about his drinking by claiming that a $7,000 bar expense could be found in the senator’s Federal Election Commission reports. Van Hollen said the tab was for a large party and noted that it had been paid for with private funds, and he challenged Patel to take the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, a screening tool for unhealthy drinking. Patel said he’d take the test if Van Hollen did, an offer the senator readily accepted. Who says Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on anything?
The Guardian US“It’s a total farce. I don’t even know where you get this stuff,” Patel told Chris Van Hollen, ranking member of the Senate appropriations subcommittee, after he asked about the claims reported by the Atlantic. “I will not be tarnished by baseless allegations.”
ReutersDemocratic lawmakers grill FBI’s Kash Patel over report alleging excessive drinking - Reuters Democratic lawmakers grill FBI’s Kash Patel over report alleging excessive drinking Reuters
USA TodayDemocrats also will likely question Patel about a recent report in The Atlantic that alleged that the former prosecutor and Hill staffer "has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences" that it said could pose a threat to national security.
BreitbartHe added, “This was a budget hearing and I made the point to Director Patel that he was in front of the committee asking for more taxpayer money, for the FBI, at the same time that he is wasting taxpayer money on all these political witch hunts. And you just mentioned a number of them wasting taxpayer money by getting himself and his girlfriend around the world instead of focusing on violent crime.” Follow Pam Key on X @pamkeyNEN
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A spokesman for Van Hollen told NBC that “this was a catering charge at a local restaurant where the Senator hosted an after-hours holiday reception as a thank you to the 50+ members of our team, paid for by campaign funds — not taxpayer dollars.”
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NBC NewsA Van Hollen spokesperson said Tuesday that “this was a catering charge at a local restaurant where the Senator hosted an after-hours holiday reception as a thank you to the 50+ members of our team, paid for by campaign funds — not taxpayer dollars.”
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“So, there have been no occasions when your security detail had difficulty waking or locating you?” Van Hollen asked Patel.
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Sen. @ChrisVanHollen (D-MD) to Kash Patel: "We cannot look away from the credible, extremely troubling reports about your misconduct…Reports of your being so drunk and hungover that your staff had to force entry into your home are extremely alarming." pic.twitter.com/9YXUNKqrwp
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The Daily Wire.@FBIDirectorKash COOKS @ChrisVanHollen: “The only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gang-banging rapist was you… the only individual in this room that has been drinking on taxpayer dime during the day is YOU.” pic.twitter.com/UPtB9jL7pv
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Today, I spoke with Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his wife, Jennifer. In April, when I met with him in El Salvador, Trump said he would never set foot in the U.S. again.
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Patel also defended the FBI’s use of internal leak reviews and polygraphs more broadly, describing them as long-standing bureau procedures rather than politically motivated retaliation.
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“No one at this FBI is allowed to politicize or weaponize law enforcement,” Patel said. “If you do, you don’t get to work there anymore.”
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"The fact that you mentioned that indicates you don’t know what you are talking about," Van Hollen replied.
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HuffPost“The fact that you mention that indicates that you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Van Hollen said, referring to the Abrego Garcia meeting.
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Patel called the report "unequivocally, categorically false" before turning the focus to Van Hollen.
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The Daily WireVan Hollen rejected Patel’s “blow up,” saying the FBI chief made “provably false statements.”
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Abrego was not charged with or convicted of being a gang member or rape, but administration officials have accused him of being a member of the violent MS-13 gang, an allegation he has denied. Abrego is awaiting trial on human trafficking charges.
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Fox NewsPublic records do not establish that Abrego Garcia is a convicted gang member or convicted rapist.
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In February, Patel joined in on Team USA hockey's locker room celebrations in Italy shortly after the team won the gold medal -- a move that drew scrutiny about his use of FBI resources to attend.
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USA Today"For the very concerned media - yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys," Patel, a longtime hockey fan and player, wrote on X.
Washington TimesDemocrats, by contrast, pressed Patel on headline-generating travel that has blended personal leisure with his duties - including a trip to the Winter Olympics in Italy, where he partied with the U.S. men’s hockey team after their gold medal win - as well as the mass terminations under his watch of agents who worked on investigations into President Donald Trump.
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“Are you willing to take the test … it’s called the audit test that members of our active duty military and others take to determine whether they have a drinking problem?” the Democratic senator pressed.
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The Daily Wire“Are you willing to take the test … it’s called the audit test that members of our active duty military and others take to determine whether they have a drinking problem?” the Democratic senator asked.
12 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 HuffPost He posted the results of an alcoholism test online Wednesday, and is daring the FBI director to do the same.
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02 Breitbart He continued, “It’s very revealing when he gets in front of a hearing like that. I asked him a series of questions about this credible reporting about how his excessive drinking is making it impossible for him to do his job, reports that his security detail had to forcefully enter his house to wake him up. And it was really an opportunity for him to respond and instead, what he did was decide to lash out, at me.”
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03 Washington Examiner The FBI director also sparred with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), who told Patel to “stick to podcasting” after video emerged of Patel chugging beer in the locker room of the USA men’s hockey team following their Olympic win over Canada.
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04 Fox News "When your private actions make it impossible for you to perform your public duties, we have a big problem. You cannot perform those public duties if you’re incapacitated," Van Hollen said.
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05 NBC News The remarkable back-and-forth took place during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee discussion of the FBI’s budget and ended with the two agreeing to a challenge to undergo a drinking “audit.”
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06 The Atlantic Other Democrats followed up with questions of their own. When Senator Chris Coons asked about the cost of Patel’s trip to Milan during the Olympics, when he was taped chugging beer in a locker room with the U.S. hockey team, Patel just didn’t answer. Coons also inquired about the firing of agents, but Patel said he didn’t believe the reporting. “Do you disagree that there were 10 Iran specialists dismissed right before the war began?” a perplexed Coons asked. “Yes,” Patel said. When Senator Patty Murray cited figures showing that FBI agents had been reassigned to immigration enforcement, Patel categorically denied that, too.
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07 New York Times “You are a disgrace, Mr. Director,” the senator declared toward the end of the hearing.
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08 Washington Times “You attended the Olympics in Milan,” said Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat. “How much did your trip cost and to what extent did that help you carry out your mission as director of the FBI?”
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09 USA Today See video of President Trump teach kids the 'Trump dance'Ukraine and Russia agree to 3-day ceasefire, including prisoner swapTrump news, updates May 8: Iran 'trifle', Reflecting Pool motorcadeTrump-backed challengers topple Indiana GOP incumbents
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10 New York Post “Let’s go side by side,” said the FBI director, who has sued The Atlantic for $250 million over the article and dismissed it in Tuesday’s hearing as “unequivocally, categorically false.”
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11 The Guardian US The FBI director has sued the magazine, and the author of a story it published, filing a defamation lawsuit in US district court for the District of Columbia that seeks $250m in damages.
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12 ABC News Patel, a hockey fan, was said to have had meetings in Italy prior to attending the game. Ben Williamson, an FBI spokesperson, said on social media that Patel's trip had been previously scheduled. He added that "any other personal expenses would be reimbursed."
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