IN BRIEF
- US Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen and Kash Patel had a fiery exchange in the US Senate.
- However, he received a friendly reception from Republican senators at the hearing.
During a budget hearing on Wednesday, FBI Director Kash Patel vehemently denied accusations made by a Democratic senator, dismissing claims that he indulges in excessive drinking while on duty and is sometimes unavailable to his team. He labeled these allegations as “unequivocally, categorically false.”
In a heated exchange with Senator Chris Van Hollen, Patel defended himself against the senator’s questions, which were based on a recent article from The Atlantic. The publication’s piece cast a critical light on Patel’s leadership of the FBI, prompting his strong rebuttal during the proceedings.
In response to the article, Patel has initiated a $250 million lawsuit against The Atlantic, asserting that their portrayal of him is inaccurate. The Atlantic, however, maintains confidence in its reportage and has pledged to robustly counter what it terms a “meritless lawsuit.”
In a dramatic turn during the hearing, Patel accused Van Hollen of hypocrisy, alleging that the senator had been “slinging margaritas on the taxpayer dime” during a visit to El Salvador. This accusation refers to Van Hollen’s trip last year to see Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had been wrongly deported to the country.
“The only person who has been drinking during the day on the taxpayer dime was you,” Patel retorted, attempting to shift the focus back onto the senator.
“Director Patel, come on,” Van Hollen said. “These are serious allegations that were made against you.”
He at one point asked Patel if he was willing to take a test meant to measure whether a person has a drinking problem, prompting Patel to shoot back, “I’ll take any test you’re willing to take.”
The senator called Patel’s claims of drinking margaritas in El Salvador “provably false”. After last year’s meeting, Van Hollen publicly accused El Salvador’s government of having misrepresented the nature of his encounter with Abrego Garcia, saying officials there had staged the meeting with drinks appearing to be alcohol and angled to set the meeting by a hotel pool.
The testy exchange occurred at an annual US Senate subcommittee budget hearing featuring Patel and other senior law enforcement leaders.
The director used the forum to tout what he described as major crime-fighting achievements since he took the position and received a friendly reception from Republican senators who praised his leadership.
Democrats, by contrast, pressed Patel on headline-generating travel that has blended his professional duties with private leisure — including a trip to the Winter Olympics in Italy, where he partied with the US men’s ice hockey team after their gold medal win — as well as the mass terminations of agents who worked on investigations into President Donald Trump.
“You attended the Olympics in Milan,” said senator 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?”
Patel responded that the FBI was responsible for security at the Olympics and asserted that his trip to Italy helped facilitate the transfer of a Chinese cybercriminal to US custody, who had been detained by Italian authorities.
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