FBI Director Kash Patel denies drinking allegations in heated Senate
exchange
[May 13, 2026]
By ERIC TUCKER
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Kash Patel angrily lashed out at a
Democratic lawmaker at a budget hearing Tuesday, calling allegations
that he drinks excessively on the job and has been unreachable to his
staff at times “unequivocally, categorically false.”
“I will not be tarnished by baseless allegations and fraudulent
statements from the media,” Patel told Sen. Chris Van Hollen during a
testy exchange that began when the Maryland Democrat confronted him
about a recent article in The Atlantic magazine that painted an
unflattering portrait of his leadership of the nation’s premier federal
law enforcement agency.
Patel has filed a $250 million lawsuit over the story. The Atlantic has
said it stands by its reporting and would vigorously defend against the
“meritless lawsuit.”
Patel shouted over Van Hollen and sought to turn the tables by accusing
him of “slinging margaritas on the taxpayer dime” in El Salvador, a
reference to a visit the Democrat paid last year to Kilmar Abrego Garcia
while he was jailed there following his mistaken deportation to the
country.
“The only person who has been drinking during the day on the taxpayer
dime was you,” Patel said.
“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 an individual 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 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.
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FBI director Kash Patel testifies before the Senate Subcommittee on
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing on Fiscal
Year 2027 Budget Request for the FBI, the Drug Enforcement
Administration; the United States Marshals Service and the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Capitol Hill, Tuesday,
May 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The testy exchange occurred at an annual 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 U.S. men's 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 Sen. 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 U.S. custody, who had been
detained by Italian authorities.
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