Chris Van Hollen, Kash Patel committee showdown spills onto social media

A tense debate between Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen and FBI Director Kash Patel that started at a Tuesday budget hearing continued overnight on social media, with Van Hollen Wednesday posting the results of an alcohol screening test and daring Patel to do the same.

The back-and-forth began with Van Hollen questioning Patel’s alcohol use and The Atlantic’s report that colleagues were concerned about his drinking and absences. The magazine reported that security staff were unable to contact Patel after an evening of drinking, had to breach a door to find him, and that staff have had to reschedule Patel’s meetings later in the day.

Patel appeared with other law enforcement agency heads at a Senate hearing to answer budget questions. Patel is asking Congress to approve $12.53 billion for agency operations. Van Hollen serves as the panel’s top-ranking Democrat.

“I don’t care one bit about your private life, and I don’t give a damn about what you do on your own time and your own dime, unless and until it interferes with your public responsibilities,” Van Hollen said.

Patel agreed to Van Hollen’s request to take an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, or AUDIT test, which screens for hazardous or harmful alcohol use. Van Hollen posted his answers to the self-reported questionnaire on social media.

Patel has denied The Atlantic’s reporting and has filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the publication. He told Van Hollen the allegations are “unequivocally, categorically false” and assured the senator he is available to his staff around the clock.

“So there have been no occasions when your security detail had difficulty waking you and locating you. Is that right?” Van Hollen asked.

Patel quipped, “Nope. It’s a total farce. I don’t even know where you get this stuff. But it doesn’t make it credible because you say so.”

After some back and forth, the FBI director peppered Van Hollen with accusations and made specious claims about the senator’s behavior.

“The only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gang-banging rapist was you,” Patel said, referencing Van Hollen’s trip to visit his Maryland constituent Kilmar Ábrego García, who was wrongfully deported by the Trump administration. The drinks, placed on the table by Salvadoran government officials, contained clear liquid with salt or sugar on the rim. Neither Van Hollen nor Abrego Garcia drank from the glasses, Van Hollen has said.

Patel also claimed that Van Hollen used taxpayer dollars to pay for a staff holiday party, which the senator expensed through his campaign account.

The senator pressed Patel for answers on a host of topics. Among his concerns: Reports that Patel fired counterintelligence agents specially trained to monitor threats from Iran; his “weaponizing” of the FBI against a former agency director; and investigating journalists who write stories unfavorable to the FBI.

Van Hollen ended his questioning by pressing Patel on whether he understood it was a crime to lie to Congress.

Patel clapped back: “I have not lied to Congress. The only person lying to Congress is you.” To which Van Hollen reminded him that he was not the one testifying.

After the hearing, Patel shared a video clip on social media in which he listed a number of the FBI’s accomplishments under his tenure.

“If people want to continue the baseless, fraudulent false personal attacks at me, that’s great. Keep the target on me, as I’ve always said, but the mission has never been better,” he said.

“While some in the media continue these pathetic attempts at smears, Director Patel and the FBI will be solely focused on continuing the most prolific year of crime reduction in United States history‚" said Ben Williamson, assistant director of the FBI’s public affairs office.

Van Hollen said in a statement that Patel “repeatedly lied and threw tantrums” on Tuesday.

“If public reporting on his drinking were not enough to call into question his fitness to serve as FBI Director,” Van Hollen said, “his behavior today absolutely did.”