Sen. Chris Van Hollen issued a public callout to FBI Director Kash Patel on Wednesday, filling his end of a bargain the pair had made during a tense Senate hearing a day prior to both release their results on an alcohol abuse test.
“Yesterday, @FBIDirectorKash told me he’d take the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test if I did. Well, here’s mine. Given all the lies he told yesterday, I imagine he’ll fudge the numbers here, but let’s see yours, Director Patel,” Van Hollen wrote in a post on X.
The test, known as AUDIT, asks 10 questions about alcohol consumption, such as how often people drink or if they have experienced various negative consequences from drinking. Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, chose the lowest-level on nine of the questions — only checking a higher box for having a drink containing alcohol “2-3 times a week.”
A spokesperson for Van Hollen said because of his public agreement with Patel, “the Senator expects him to follow through.”
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Patel denied that he has a drinking problem in fiery testimony in front of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday. When Van Hollen asked Patel was willing to take the AUDIT assessment, the FBI director said he would — as long as the senator did as well.
“Let’s go. Side by side,” Patel responded.
The animosity between Patel and Van Hollen didn’t stop after the hearing, with Patel posting what he called a “Fact Check” on his comments about a $7,000 bar tab Van Hollen incurred at Lobby Bar, a popular spot near Capitol Hill. Van Hollen hit back, saying the Federal Election Commission filing detailed a holiday reception for his staff that was not funded by taxpayer dollars.
The embattled bureau head faced pointed questions from Democrats on the committee over recent allegations reported by The Atlantic in April that he drinks excessively, to the point that it has interfered with his role as FBI director. According to the report, based on multiple current and former officials speaking anonymously, Patel’s security detail has had difficulty rousing Patel from sleep and meetings have had to be scheduled later in the day because Patel had been drinking the night before.
Patel strongly denied The Atlantic’s report and filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the magazine.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee quickly launched an investigation into Patel’s behavior and demanded that he complete the AUDIT test.
The Democratic lawmakers called on the committee’s chair, Rep. Jim Jordan, to tell the FBI director that the “committee will be requiring him to appear at a hearing in person and under oath to address Members’ well-founded concerns” — though there are no official plans to compel Patel’s testimony at this point.
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