A Democratic senator challenged FBI Director Kash Patel to take a test designed to identify problem drinking behavior on Tuesday amid angry exchanges at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The FBI director's appearance on Capitol Hill resembled many past confrontations between members of Donald Trump's Cabinet and congressional committees. Patel disparaged the credibility of media reports about his personal life and management of the bureau, while slinging insults at his critics.
Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland told the FBI director that he did not care about Patel's personal life except when it affects his job performance. He then immediately questioned reports in The Atlantic and other publications detailing concerns of senior FBI officials about Patel's alleged drinking.
Calling the reports categorically false, the FBI director began shouting over Van Hollen. The senator challenged Patel to take the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) to verify that his drinking habits did not rise to problematic levels.
"I'll take any test you're willing to take," responded Patel. Van Hollen agreed, saying: "I will take it."
Patel accused the Democrat of drinking alcohol on the taxpayers' dime, invoking a bizarre incident in El Salvador in 2025 when Van Hollen visited a Maryland resident who had been deported to a notorious prison. Patel repeated a false claim that the senator drank margaritas with wrongly deported Salvadoran immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Van Hollen has insisted that aides for El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele set a table to create a false impression that they were drinking alcohol, in an attempt to discredit the Democrat. This claim was quickly amplified on social media by Trump's allies.
"The only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gang-banging rapist was you," Patel claimed. In fact, Abrego Garcia has not been convicted of any crime in the U.S.
Patel's furious refutation of The Atlantic's reporting follows the outlet's story that Patel is frequently seen drinking to excess in public settings and is sometimes unreachable by agents. The April reporting also alleged that the FBI director is deeply paranoid about losing his job and flew into a "freak-out" when he was locked out of his email, believing it was a sign of imminent firing.
The AUDIT process involves a 10-question exam self-administered or given by a physician, which analyzes aspects of drinking behavior including dependency and consumption levels. It is used by the World Health Organization as a gold standard in identifying problem behavior, though it relies on participants to answer honestly.
Patel remains at the Justice Department following the sudden firing of former Attorney General Pam Bondi, apparently due to Trump's continued frustration that the DOJ's attempts to prosecute his political opponents have yet to yield results. Some efforts were tossed out by courts, ruling that the attorney bringing the cases was illegally appointed.
The FBI director came under increased scrutiny earlier this year after he was pictured in Milan, Italy, partying alongside members of the U.S. Men's hockey team in the locker room. The agency denied that Patel was using agency resources for personal trips.
