FBI Director Kash Patel Questioned Over Report on Excessive Drinking

Democratic lawmakers pressed FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday over a report alleging that excessive drinking and unexplained absences interfered with his leadership of the bureau, prompting an angry denial from Patel during a Senate budget hearing.

Patel appeared before a Senate appropriations panel to defend the Trump administration’s proposed $12.5 billion FBI budget for 2027. The hearing, however, quickly turned to questions about his conduct and leadership, including a recent Atlantic article that described episodes of “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences” that reportedly alarmed officials at the FBI and Justice Department.

Patel denied the allegations, calling the report a “total farce.” He has sued The Atlantic and the reporter behind the article for defamation. The magazine has said it stands by its reporting.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, said that if the allegations were true, they would amount to “a gross dereliction” of Patel’s duty and a betrayal of public trust.

Patel responded by attacking Van Hollen over his trip last year to El Salvador to visit Kilmar Abrego, a Salvadoran migrant from Maryland who was imprisoned there after being wrongfully deported by the Trump administration.

Patel accused Van Hollen of “slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar,” referring to photos that showed cocktail glasses on a table during the visit. Van Hollen called the claim “provably false,” saying the glasses had been placed there by Salvadoran officials in an effort to undermine the meeting.

The exchange marked Patel’s first congressional appearance since renewed scrutiny over his leadership, including public attention following a beer-drinking celebration at the Milan Winter Olympics and the publication of The Atlantic report.

Patel used the hearing to argue that the FBI has performed well under his leadership. He said violent crime has fallen over the past year and that FBI arrests have increased, presenting those figures as evidence that the bureau remains effective despite political attacks.

Democrats argued that the allegations raised serious questions about judgment and national security at the top of the country’s leading federal law enforcement agency. Republicans largely focused on the FBI budget and Patel’s crime statistics, with some defending him against what they described as partisan criticism.

Patel, a close Trump ally, has been one of the administration’s most controversial law enforcement officials since taking over the FBI. The hearing showed that Democratic scrutiny of his tenure is likely to continue as Congress considers the bureau’s next budget.