Patel Faces Senate Questions on Drinking Claims, Politics — Kash Patel Fbi Director
Kash Patel, the kash patel fbi director, faced Senate subcommittee questioning today over reports about excessive drinking, unexplained absences and whether the bureau had been politicized. Chris Van Hollen pressed him on whether it is a crime to lie to Congress, and Patel rejected the accusation.
Van Hollen asked Patel, “Do you know that it is a crime to lie to Congress?” Patel replied, “I have not lied to Congress,” then accused the senator of lying. Van Hollen responded, “The director of the FBI apparently does not want to answer the question about whether or not it’s a crime to lie to Congress, and I find that extremely troubling.”
Van Hollen and Patel
The exchange grew sharper when Van Hollen said, “You are a disgrace, Mr. Director.” Patel answered, “The only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gangbanging rapist was you.” Van Hollen had visited El Salvador and met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, after the administration acknowledged it had mistakenly deported him and he was later returned to the United State.
The hearing gave senators their first chance to question Patel on a series of recent press reports. In mid-April, Sarah Fitzpatrick reported concerns inside the Trump administration about excessive drinking and unexplained absences, and she later reported on personalized bourbon bottles Patel had handed out as gifts. Patel denied the allegations in her initial story and sued Fitzpatrick and The Atlantic for defamation, demanding $250 million.
Fitzpatrick Reports and Denials
Last week, MS NOW reported that Fitzpatrick was the focus of an FBI criminal-leak investigation. The FBI rejected that reporting as “completely false.” Earlier this spring, several outlets reported that Patel had fired agents from a task force that monitored threats from Iran, days before the Trump administration launched a war against Iran.
Those outlets said the fired agents had been involved in an investigation into the president’s alleged removal of classified documents to Mar-a-Lago. Patel denied those reports and said the agents were fired for unspecified violations of ethical obligations.
The hearing also featured the leaders of the Drug Enforcement Agency, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. For Patel, the practical question now is whether the Senate keeps pressing the same reports that put his conduct and his handling of the bureau under public scrutiny.
