The hearing of his director, Ms. Patel at the US Appropriations Committee, was heated when the Democratic Senator of Maryland, Chris Van Hollen, asked Patel about reports that he consumes large amounts of alcohol to the extent that it interferes with the proper performance of his duties.
Vitriolic confrontation between Van Hollen and Patel
Chris Van Hollen was especially sharp in his opening remarks and questions, raising concerns about Patel’s ability to lead in light of reports, the recent firings of counterintelligence officers tasked with monitoring threats from Iran, and the recent subpoenas sent to reporters.
“Director Patel, I have no interest in your private life,” Van Hollen said. “I don’t care what you do with your personal time and money, unless it affects your public duties.”
Van Hollen: “You were carried by the drink”
The Atlantic magazine had recently published a report claiming that Patel had “caused concern among colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences”. “You can’t perform these public duties if you’re incapable of performing them,” Van Hollen argued, then pointed out that there were reports “that you were so drunk and hungover that your assistants had to break into your house.”
Patel has filed a lawsuit against The Atlantic magazine, calling the report false and saying he has never been drunk on the job.
Patel: “You drank margaritas with a criminal. I’ll do whatever test you want”
Patel later hit back at Van Hollen, accusing the senator of “drinking margaritas” with a known criminal, referring to a meeting Van Hollen had with Kilmar Abrego Garcia when he had been wrongly deported to El Salvador. Van Hollen has denied that they drank margaritas.
“Director Patel, come now. These charges brought against you are serious,” Van Hollen said. For a while the two continued to talk briefly over each other, and the senator asked him if he would be willing to take a test — like the military’s — to see if someone has an alcohol problem.
“I’ll run whatever tests you want,” Patel said. “Let’s go, together.”
The two continued to trade barbs for hours, and during the hearing, the FBI’s X account released a Federal Election Commission deposition about a dinner for which Patel claimed Van Hollen had paid several thousand dollars. “The next time you run up a $7,000 bar bill, we can talk about it,” Patel argued.
Van Hollen shot back by asking Patel if he knows it’s a crime to lie to Congress. The senator said the dinner was for 50 people and was not paid for with “public money”. “You’re a badass,” Van Hollen concluded.
What was the subject of the hearing?
The hearing was about the Department of Justice’s law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, about their 2027 budget requests.
Democratic senators not only pressed Patel over reports of his alleged conduct at work, but also raised questions about the FBI’s immigration and election decisions and initiatives. Patel dismissed the allegations, defending the agency and trying to tout its achievements in his day: lower crime rates, high-profile arrests and moving agents out of Washington across the country.
Attack on Patel and about the trip to Italy
Patel was asked by Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, about the cost and significance of his trip to Italy earlier this year, during which he was recorded drinking and celebrating with the gold medal-winning US men’s ice hockey team.
Patel said the trip was deliberately timed to coincide with the Winter Olympics because, he said in his opening statement, a known cybercriminal acting on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party had been detained in Italy.
Last summer, Italian authorities arrested a man who US authorities say was working for Chinese intelligence to steal research on COVID-19 vaccines from US universities.
Patel claimed that while he was in Italy, the FBI arranged for the man’s extradition to the US rather than his return to China. Patel said the person was flown to the US two weeks ago.
Other senators raised concerns about his behavior during the trip to the Olympics. “If you want to drink or open bottles in locker rooms, stick to podcasting,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington. “Leave law enforcement to people who actually care about justice and its image.”
Under the microscope and the role of the FBI in the enforcement of immigration policy
Lawmakers also pressed Patel on the FBI’s role in enforcing the administration’s immigration policy and whether recent actions by the agency affect election workers.
Senator Murray asked how many agents have been reassigned to immigration operations. Patel said he did not know the exact number, but stressed that no agents have been permanently assigned to that area.
When asked if the seizure of hundreds of boxes of 2020 ballots in Georgia and other similar actions could negatively impact those working to conduct the election, Patel declined to answer directly.
He argued that the FBI’s actions related to the election — including confiscating ballots — had a legal basis and had been approved by federal judges.
