The Senate hearing was supposed to be about the FBI’s budget. Instead, it turned into a very public showdown over drinking habits, margaritas, and a $7,000 bar tab. Now, one side has put its test results on the record. The other has not.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) shared the results of a test to assess alcohol disorders on Wednesday, after FBI Director Kash Patel told the lawmaker he would also submit to the test if they did them “side by side.”
“Yesterday, @FBIDirectorKash told me he’d take the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test if I did. Well, here’s mine,” Van Hollen said on social media, sharing his results. “Given all the lies he told yesterday, I imagine he’ll fudge the numbers here, but let’s see yours, Director Patel.”
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The AUDIT Test: What It Shows
Van Hollen took the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, a standard 10-question screening tool used worldwide to assess whether a person’s drinking habits pose a health risk. The test asks about drinking frequency, binge behavior, blackouts, injuries linked to drinking, and whether others have expressed concern about one’s drinking.
Van Hollen reported having alcoholic drinks two to three times a week. That was his only affirmative response. He answered “never” to every other question on the test — including whether he had failed to meet responsibilities because of drinking, felt unable to stop drinking once he started, or felt guilt or remorse after drinking.
A score of 8 or higher typically flags risky or harmful drinking. Van Hollen scored a 3, which falls firmly in the low-risk category.
The senator’s challenge to Patel now hangs in the air. Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee initially pushed for Patel to take the same test following an April report from The Atlantic that alleged the FBI director drank excessively, exhibited erratic behavior, and had unexplained absences. Patel has vehemently denied the claims and filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic and its reporter.
The Heated Hearing That Started It All
The exchange that led to the challenge took place on Tuesday during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing ostensibly focused on the FBI’s budget request. As Van Hollen raised the issues outlined in The Atlantic article — including reports that Patel was “so drunk and hungover that his staff had to force entry into your home” — Patel pushed back aggressively.
“Unequivocally, categorically false,” Patel said.
But he did not stop at denial. The FBI director turned the tables on the senator, accusing Van Hollen of misusing taxpayer funds. “The only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gang-banging rapist was you,” Patel shouted.
The accusation referred to Van Hollen’s April 2025 visit to meet Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported to a Salvadoran prison. Photos from the meeting taken by Salvadoran officials showed what appeared to be mixed drinks on the table. Van Hollen has long maintained that the drinks were staged by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s administration to make the prisoner’s conditions appear less harsh.
Patel also accused Van Hollen of running up a $7,000 bar tab — a charge the senator initially dismissed as “provably false” before clarifying that the expense was for a holiday reception for his staff, paid for with campaign funds, not taxpayer dollars.
“You got me, I catered a holiday reception for my staff with campaign — not taxpayer — dollars!” Van Hollen responded online. “Now let’s see your receipts. #ReleaseTheTab”.
The Personal Bourbon Detail
The Atlantic’s reporting on Patel’s alleged drinking habits included specific and colorful details. The magazine reported that Patel has been handing out personalized bottles of Woodford Reserve bourbon engraved with “Kash Patel FBI Director,” an FBI shield, and his first name stylized as “Ka$h”.
Eight current and former FBI and Justice Department employees confirmed receiving Patel’s personalized bottles. One bottle reportedly appeared in an online auction after being sold by someone who said it was a gift from Patel at an event in Las Vegas.
The FBI has insisted that Patel purchased the liquor with his own money. But the magazine reported that the bottles have been transported on Justice Department aircraft, and that Patel brought a case of them to a “training seminar” with the UFC at the FBI’s Quantico facility. When one bottle went missing, Patel allegedly “lost his mind” and threatened polygraph tests and potential prosecution of agents over the missing bottle.
Retired agent Kurt Siuzdak, who assists FBI employees with legal issues, told The Atlantic he was subsequently contacted by multiple agents seeking legal help. “It turned into a shitshow,” he said.
George Hill, a former FBI supervisory intelligence analyst, was blunt. “Handing out bottles of liquor at the premier law-enforcement agency, it makes me frightened for the country. Standards apply to everything and everyone, especially the boss”.
The Core Dispute
At the heart of the confrontation is a fundamental disagreement about fitness for office. Van Hollen made his position clear during the hearing.
“When your private actions make it impossible for you to perform your public duties, we have a big problem,” Van Hollen said. “You cannot perform those public duties if you’re incapacitated.”
He added: “These reports about your conduct, including reports of your being so drunk and hungover that your staff had to force entry into your home, are extremely alarming. If true, they demonstrate a gross dereliction of your duty and a betrayal of public trust”.
Patel has flatly denied the allegations. “I will not be tarnished by baseless allegations,” he said.
But the back-and-forth escalated to an extraordinary level. At one point, Van Hollen told Patel, “You are a disgrace, Mr. Director.” Patel shot back, “Not nearly as big as you”.
The Bottom Line
Sen. Chris Van Hollen shared his Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test results on Wednesday after challenging FBI Director Kash Patel to take the same test “side by side.” Van Hollen scored a 3, well below the threshold for risky drinking. Patel agreed to the challenge during a heated Senate hearing on Tuesday but has not yet posted his results.
The confrontation stems from an April report in The Atlantic alleging excessive drinking and erratic behavior by Patel, claims he has called “unequivocally, categorically false.” Patel is suing the magazine for $250 million.
The hearing also featured accusations traded in both directions: Patel accused Van Hollen of drinking margaritas on a taxpayer-funded trip to El Salvador and running up a $7,000 bar tab. Van Hollen clarified that the bar tab was a campaign-funded staff reception and challenged Patel to release his own receipts.
The question on everyone’s minds now is: Will Patel follow through and post his test results? And if he does, will the numbers match his vigorous denials?
