Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are demanding FBI Director Kash Patel take an alcohol-abuse test or testify under oath after allegations surfaced that excessive drinking has hindered his official duties.
In a letter to Patel, Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, requested the director take and submit a test used to assess harmful alcohol consumption accompanied by a sworn statement attesting to the accuracy of his answers — in addition to documents related to Patel’s security clearance along with associated internal notes — by 5 p.m. Tuesday.
“There are numerous accounts that you consume alcohol to the point of illness, direct profanity-laced outbursts at support staff, and pass out drunk behind locked doors in episodes making you so unreachable that agents have had to fetch SWAT-level breaching equipment to awaken you,” Raskin wrote to Patel.
In an accompanying letter obtained by NOTUS, Raskin requests the House Judiciary Committee’s chair, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, compel Patel’s testimony under oath should he ignore the requests.
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The letter, signed by all 18 Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, comes days after The Atlantic published a scathing report alleging Patel alarmed colleagues with bouts of excessive drinking and significant absences.
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The Atlantic described a panicked Patel convinced he was fired after he was unable to access the agency’s internal computer system, prompting him to alert multiple colleagues about the prospect of him being terminated. The magazine cited nine anonymous sources familiar with the incident.
Patel denied the allegations and sued The Atlantic for $250 million on Monday in federal court, alleging defamation.
The House Judiciary Committee pushed back on Raskin’s letter.
“Crime is down to record-low levels. Criminals are behind bars, and America is safer thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Director Patel. This is just another unserious effort from anonymous sources and partisan actors to attack the President and his Administration,” a spokesperson for the committee’s majority said Wednesday.
The FBI director came under scrutiny after he was filmed celebrating with the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team following their gold-medal victory in February. Patel was recorded — in the now-deleted post — chugging beer from a bottle and spraying it around the team’s locker room.
The viral video came after was already under fire for reports he used a Justice Department jet to fly to Italy to attend the 2026 Winter Olympics.
In February, Sen. Dick Durbin announced he was investigating allegations the FBI was delayed to several high-profile crime scenes because of Patel’s use of the agency’s jets. The alleged behavior, brought to the Senate Judiciary Committee by a whistleblower, was said to have impeded the FBI’s investigations into a mass shooting at Brown University and the scene of Charlie Kirk’s assassination last year.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comment from a House Judiciary Committee spokesperson.
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