Chris Van Hollen

FBI Director Kash Patel once again faced the ire over reports of him drinking to excess in the job, and this time, he lashed out at a Democratic lawmaker during a budget hearing on Tuesday.

When Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen pressed Patel about The Atlantic report that made the claims about his drinking habits, the FBI chief said, “I will not be tarnished by baseless allegations and fraudulent statements from the media.”

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.

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“The only person who has been drinking during the day on the taxpayer dime was you,” Patel said.

The Democratic Senator even asked Patel if he was willing to take a test meant to measure whether an individual has a drinking problem, the FBI chief said, “I’ll take any test you’re willing to take.”

Patel defends himself

Patel has time and again defended himself, completely rejecting The Atlantic’s report. “I’ve never been intoxicated on the job. This FBI director has been on the job twice as many days as every director before me,” said the director last month.

Days after The Atlantic published an article alleging Patel had a drinking problem that could pose a threat to national security, the FBI Director filed a defamation lawsuit against the magazine and its reporter, Sarah Fitzpatrick.

The story, originally published under the headline ‘Kash Patel’s Erratic Behavior Could Cost Him His Job’, cited more than two dozen anonymous sources who expressed concern over Patel’s alleged “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences,” which they said had “alarmed officials at the FBI and the Department of Justice.”