{"id":37654,"date":"2026-05-13T00:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/?p=37654"},"modified":"2026-05-13T00:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:32:12","slug":"kash-patel-democratic-senator-trade-alcohol-related-allegations-at-congressional-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/?p=37654","title":{"rendered":"Kash Patel, Democratic senator trade alcohol-related allegations at congressional hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"anchor-2cf4e5\" class=\"body-graf\">FBI Director <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/trump-administration\/kash-patel-lawsuit-atlantic-allegations-drinking-absences-rcna341001\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kash Patel<\/a> got into a heated exchange with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., on Tuesday at a Senate hearing that included <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/democrats-want-fbi-director-kash-patel-fill-alcohol-use-screening-test-rcna341343\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">accusations of overconsumption<\/a> of alcohol and day-drinking.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"styles_subscriptionCTA__LOUeY\" id=\"subscriptionCTA\" type=\"button\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"styles_textWrapper__vxvko\">\n<p class=\"styles_text__daaVB styles_textLarge__qlzwu\">Subscribe to read this story ad-free    <\/p>\n<p class=\"styles_text__daaVB\">Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/rockcms\/2026-01\/arrow-f55fa5.svg\" alt=\"arrow\" class=\"styles_arrow__tnruW\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/button><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-baeb69\" class=\"body-graf\">The remarkable back-and-forth took place during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee discussion of the FBI\u2019s budget and ended with the two agreeing to a challenge to undergo a drinking \u201caudit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-c99d94\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cReports of your being so drunk and hungover that your staff had to force entry into your home are extremely alarming,\u201d Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the panel, said during his opening statement. \u201cIf true, they represent a gross dereliction of your duty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-bfbd2e\" class=\"body-graf\">Patel denied the reported allegations, saying: \u201cIt\u2019s a total farce. I don\u2019t even know where you get it from.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-e4c75b\" class=\"body-graf\">When Van Hollen pressed him on a recent article from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/2026\/04\/kash-patel-fbi-director-drinking-absences\/686839\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Atlantic <\/a>about his alleged drinking and absences, Patel said, \u201cI will not be tarnished by baseless allegations and fraudulent statements from the media.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-b78ff2\" class=\"body-graf\">At one point, Patel fired back at Van Hollen, \u201cThe only individual drinking on the taxpayer\u2019s dime is you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-1e8fd1\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cUnlike your baseless reports, the only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gang-banging rapist was you,\u201d he yelled, apparently referring to Van Hollen\u2019s April 2025 trip to visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/immigration\/sen-chris-van-hollen-kilmar-abrego-garcia-rcna201931\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kilmar Abrego Garcia<\/a>, who the administration said it had mistakenly deported to El Salvador.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-c84f5e\" class=\"body-graf\">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.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-6374ea\" class=\"body-graf\">During Van Hollen\u2019s visit, the senator and Abrego were served drinks by Salvadoran officials that looked like margaritas. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele then shared pictures of the meeting saying they showed Abrego \u201csipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!\u201d Van Hollen said at the time he never touched the drink.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-13b83c\" class=\"body-graf\">Patel leveled more allegations at Van Hollen.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-1b8846\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cThe only person that ran up a $7,000 bar tab in Washington, D.C. at the Lobby Bar was you. The only individual in this room that has been drinking on the taxpayer dime during the day is you,\u201d Patel yelled.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-f410f7\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cDrink during the day, that\u2019s you,\u201d Patel told the senator. \u201cThis is the ultimate example of hypocrisy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-f60e58\" class=\"body-graf\">Van Hollen told him he didn\u2019t know what he was talking about.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-195c25\" class=\"body-graf\">Patel later<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FBIDirectorKash\/status\/2054294261986660537\/photo\/1\" target=\"_blank\"> posted on social media<\/a> what appeared to be a $7,000 catering expense from Van Hollen\u2019s campaign committee at the bar.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-865a1f\" class=\"body-graf\">A Van Hollen spokesperson said Tuesday that \u201cthis 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 \u2014 not taxpayer dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-5d42b4\" class=\"body-graf\">The FBI declined further comment on the post.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-5465ec\" class=\"body-graf\">Van Hollen later asked Patel if he\u2019d be willing to take \u201cthe audit test that members of our active duty military and others take to determine whether they have a drinking problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-932683\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cI\u2019ll take any test you\u2019re willing to take,\u201d Patel responded.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-8e2efe\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cI will take it,\u201d Van Hollen said. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-31990c\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cLet\u2019s go. Side by side,\u201d Patel said.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-638672\" class=\"body-graf\">Patel has previously denied the allegations in The Atlantic and last month filed a $250 million defamation <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.291527\/gov.uscourts.dcd.291527.1.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">suit<\/a> over the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/2026\/04\/kash-patel-fbi-director-drinking-absences\/686839\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> story,<\/a> calling it a \u201csweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece.\u201d<strong> <\/strong>The magazine has said it stands by the story and will fight \u201cthis meritless lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-f03a13\" class=\"body-graf\">In a statement to NBC News after Tuesday\u2019s hearing, Van Hollen said: \u201cIf public reporting on his drinking were not enough to call into question his fitness to serve as FBI Director, his behavior today absolutely did. He\u2019s a disgrace to the office he holds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-e950ef\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/kash-patel-chris-van-hollen-trade-alcohol-allegations-senate-hearing-rcna344804\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FBI 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. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. The remarkable back-and-forth took place during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37655,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[171],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-conditions"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37654"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37656,"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37654\/revisions\/37656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}