{"id":47,"date":"2026-05-12T23:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T23:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=47"},"modified":"2026-05-12T23:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T23:36:13","slug":"kash-patel-lashes-out-as-lawmakers-question-excessive-drinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=47","title":{"rendered":"Kash Patel lashes out as lawmakers question \u2018excessive drinking\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
FBI Director Kash Patel testifies during a Senate hearing Tuesday. (Win McNamee\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

FBI Director Kash Patel lashed out at Democratic lawmakers during a congressional budget hearing Tuesday, offering a brash defense to their questions centering on a recent news report alleging that <\/b>his \u201cexcessive drinking\u201d has impaired his ability to do his job.<\/p>

Read more Trump\u2019s approach on China has changed, now appears focused on getting along<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a total farce,\u201d Patel responded when pressed by members of the Senate Appropriations Committee about <\/b>an article published <\/b>last month <\/b>by the Atlantic magazine, which cited unnamed sources who offered a deeply unflattering assessment of Patel\u2019s year leading the nation\u2019s chief law enforcement agency.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI will not be tarnished by baseless allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patel has sued the magazine<\/a> over the story and previously denied its claims, including that he has \u201calarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the rebuttal he offered Tuesday \u2014 amid a hearing on the FBI\u2019s request for a $12.53 billion budget \u2014 marked Patel\u2019s most defiant effort yet to push back against accusations that <\/b>his critics say should endanger his future at the agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are learning about what\u2019s happening at the FBI is anything but normal,\u201d said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (Maryland), the top Democrat on the subcommittee overseeing the bureau\u2019s budget. \u201cDirector Patel, as you ask for more taxpayer resources, we cannot look away from the credible, extremely troubling reports about your misconduct at the FBI.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patel, embracing what has become the go-to posture for Trump administration Justice Department officials being grilled on Capitol Hill, quickly responded with personal attacks.<\/p>\n

He accused Van Hollen of \u201cslinging margaritas\u201d with Kilmar Abrego Garc\u00eda, the undocumented immigrant and Maryland resident whom the Trump administration mistakenly deported<\/a> to a megaprison in El Salvador last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only person who has been drinking during the day on the taxpayer dime was you,\u201d the FBI director said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about,\u201d Van Hollen shot back.<\/p>\n

The senator had visited<\/a> Abrego during his time in the Latin American prison and was photographed seated with him at a table with glasses that appeared to have liquid inside.<\/p>\n

Van Hollen has previously said<\/a> Salvadoran officials put those glasses on the table during the meeting, which was monitored by the government, but that <\/b>neither he nor Abrego touched them during their discussions.<\/p>\n

But as the senator continued to press Patel on his drinking Tuesday, the FBI director again sought to turn the tables. He repeatedly suggested Van Hollen had once run up a $7,000 bar tab at an event \u2014 an expense the lawmaker maintained was the total tab for a campaign event for his staff last year.<\/p>\n

Later, as the hearing continued, Patel\u2019s official social media account on X posted photos of the bar and Van Hollen\u2019s campaign finance report listing the expense.<\/p>\n

\u201cFact check,\u201d the FBI director wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Those coarse and combative exchanges were reminiscent of others that have come to define congressional oversight proceedings during the second Trump administration.<\/p>

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During an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee last year, Patel called then-Rep. Eric Swalwell\u2019s career \u201cbulls—\u201d amid a testy back-and-forth<\/a> with California Democrat over the FBI\u2019s handling of the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Swalwell resigned last month<\/a> amid allegations of sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n

Former attorney general Pam Bondi, too, earned a reputation as a Capitol Hill brawler, showing up to hearings with binders filled with pre-scripted insults for lawmakers.<\/p>\n

At her last appearance<\/a> before Congress before Trump\u2019s decision to fire her earlier this year, she shouted down Rep. Jamie Raskin (Maryland), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, calling him a \u201cwashed-up loser lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s sparring threatened at times to overshadow the true reason for Patel\u2019s appearance on Capitol Hill <\/b> \u2014 debate over the FBI\u2019s 2027 budget request.<\/p>\n

At one point, Sen. Patty Murray (Washington), the ranking Democrat on the committee, referenced a widely circulated video of Patel drinking beer in the locker room of the U.S. Olympic hockey team<\/a> after their gold medal win in Italy earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you really want to pop bottles in a locker room, stick to podcasting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Others pressed Patel on claims that the bureau had launched investigations into reporters and their sources who provided unflattering leaks on the director\u2019s behavior.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis FBI is targeting and questioning no journalist,\u201d Patel said. He also denied reports that he\u2019d personally ordered polygraph tests for any bureau personnel to see whether they were the source of disclosures to the media.<\/p>\n

In his opening statement, Patel touted what he described as successes under his watch, including the bureau\u2019s response to the shooting at last month\u2019s White House correspondent\u2019s dinner<\/a> in Washington and the declining homicide rate across the country.<\/p>\n

The bureau\u2019s budget request seeks additional funds to further support efforts to combat violent crime and enhance investigative technology.<\/p>\n

Patel was joined at Tuesday\u2019s hearing by the heads of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who also testified in support of funding requests from their agencies.<\/p>

Read more DOJ paid millions to FBI agents suspended for misconduct, Raskin says<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The FBI director offered a brash defense to questions centering on a recent news report alleging that his \u201cexcessive drinking\u201d impaired his ability to do the job. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nKash Patel lashes out as lawmakers question \u2018excessive drinking\u2019 - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=47\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kash Patel lashes out as lawmakers question \u2018excessive drinking\u2019 - 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