FBI Director Kash Patel denies drinking allegations at Senate hearing
AP News • • nation
Key Points:
- FBI Director Kash Patel vehemently denied allegations of excessive drinking and unavailability at a Senate budget hearing, calling the claims “unequivocally, categorically false” and accusing Sen. Chris Van Hollen of making baseless accusations.
- The confrontation escalated with Patel accusing Van Hollen of misusing taxpayer funds during a visit to El Salvador, while Van Hollen challenged Patel to take a drinking problem test and disputed Patel’s claims about an expensive bar tab during that trip.
- Patel has filed a lawsuit against The Atlantic magazine over an article critical of his leadership, which the publication stands by and plans to defend vigorously.
- During the hearing, Republican senators praised Patel's crime-fighting record, whereas Democrats questioned his travel expenses, including a trip to the Winter Olympics in Italy where Patel socialized with the U.S. men’s hockey team.
- Patel justified his Olympic trip by citing the FBI’s security role and his involvement in facilitating the transfer of a detained Chinese cybercriminal from Italian authorities to U.S. custody.