A U.S. Senate hearing went off the rails Tuesday when FBI Director Kash Patel became embroiled in an fierce clash with a Democrat senator over which of the two might have a problem drinking alcohol.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland raised concerns about Patel’s leadership at the bureau, saying: “Director Patel, I don’t care one bit about your private life.”
“I don’t give a damn what you do on your own time and your own dime, unless and until it interferes with your public responsibilities.
“You cannot perform those public duties if you’re incapacitated,” Van Hollen said, adding “reports of you being so drunk and so hungover that your staff had to force entry into your home.”
“It’s a total farce. I don’t even know where you get this stuff,” Patel said. “But it doesn’t make it credible because you say this stuff.”
“I’m not saying it, Director Patel, it’s been written and documented,” Van Hollen responded.
“You are literally saying it,” Patel fired back.
“No, I’m saying that these are reports,” Van Hollen said.
Patel then turned ferocious, pointing his finger at Van Hollen numerous times during his testimony, mentioning the Democrat’s high-profile drinks with accused gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia: “The only person slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gang-banging rapist was YOU!”
“The only person that ran up a $7,000 bar tab in Washington, D.C., at the Lobby Bar was YOU!”
“So the only individual in this room that has been drinking on taxpayer dime during the day was you.”
“This is the ultimate example of hypocrisy,” Patel added. “I will not be tarnished by baseless allegations from fraudulent statements from the media.”
WATCH THE FIERY EXCHANGE:
Van Hollen insisted the FBI chief faced “serious allegations” based on reporting in The Atlantic magazine concerning “alleged episodes of excessive drinking” and “unexplained absences.”
“Are you willing to take the test … it’s called the audit test that members of our active duty military and others take to determine whether they have a drinking problem?” the senator pressed.
“I’ll take any tests you’re willing to take,” Patel responded.
“I will take it. Director Patel, I’ll take it,” Van Hollen agreed. “You’re ready to take it?”
“Let’s go, side by side,” said Patel, who is suing The Atlantic for $250 million, calling the claims in its article “unequivocally, categorically false.”
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