FBI Director Kash Patel got into a heated exchange with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., at a Senate hearing Tuesday that included accusations of overconsumption of alcohol and day-drinking.
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The remarkable back-and-forth took place during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee discussion of the FBI’s budget and ended with the two agreeing to a challenge to undergo a drinking “audit.”
“Reports of your being so drunk and hungover that your staff had to force entry into your home are extremely alarming,” Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the panel, said in his opening statement. “If true, they represent a gross dereliction of your duty.”
Patel denied the reported allegations, saying: “It’s a total farce. I don’t even know where you get it from.”
When Van Hollen pressed him about a recent article from The Atlantic about allegations of drinking and absences, Patel said, “I will not be tarnished by baseless allegations and fraudulent statements from the media.”
At one point, Patel fired back at Van Hollen, “The only individual drinking on the taxpayer’s dime is you.”
“Unlike 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,” he yelled, apparently referring to Van Hollen’s April 2025 trip to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the administration said it had mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
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.
Salvadoran officials served Van Hollen and Abrego drinks that looked like margaritas. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele then shared pictures of the meeting, saying they showed Abrego “sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!” Van Hollen said at the time that he never touched the drink.
Patel leveled more allegations at Van Hollen.
“The 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,” Patel yelled.
“Drink during the day, that’s you,” Patel told Van Hollen. “This is the ultimate example of hypocrisy.”
Van Hollen told him he didn’t know what he was talking about.
Patel later posted on social media what appeared to be a $7,000 catering expense from Van Hollen’s campaign committee at the bar.
A Van Hollen spokesperson said Tuesday that “this 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 — not taxpayer dollars.”
The FBI declined further comment on the post.
Van Hollen later asked Patel whether he’d be willing to take “the audit test that members of our active-duty military and others take to determine whether they have a drinking problem.”
“I’ll take any test you’re willing to take,” Patel responded.
“I will take it,” Van Hollen said.
“Let’s go. Side by side,” Patel said.
Patel has denied the allegations in The Atlantic, and last month he filed a $250 million defamation suit over the story, calling it a “sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece.” The magazine has said it stands by the story and will fight “this meritless lawsuit.”
Van Hollen told NBC News in a statement after Tuesday’s hearing: “If 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’s a disgrace to the office he holds.”
The FBI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday’s hearing.
