FBI Director Denies Drinking Claims    05/13 06:03

   FBI Director Kash Patel angrily lashed out at a Democratic lawmaker at a 
budget hearing Tuesday, calling allegations that he drinks excessively on the 
job and has been unreachable to his staff at times "unequivocally, 
categorically false."

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- FBI Director Kash Patel angrily lashed out at a 
Democratic lawmaker at a budget hearing Tuesday, calling allegations that he 
drinks excessively on the job and has been unreachable to his staff at times 
"unequivocally, categorically false."

   "I will not be tarnished by baseless allegations and fraudulent statements 
from the media," Patel told Sen. Chris Van Hollen during a testy exchange that 
began when the Maryland Democrat confronted him about a recent article in The 
Atlantic magazine that painted an unflattering portrait of his leadership of 
the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency.

   Patel has filed a $250 million lawsuit over the story. The Atlantic has said 
it stands by its reporting and would vigorously defend against the "meritless 
lawsuit."

   Patel shouted over Van Hollen and sought to turn the tables by accusing him 
of "slinging margaritas on the taxpayer dime" in El Salvador, a reference to a 
visit the Democrat paid last year to Kilmar Abrego Garcia while he was jailed 
there following his mistaken deportation to the country.

   "The only person who has been drinking during the day on the taxpayer dime 
was you," Patel said.

   "Director Patel, come on," Van Hollen said. "These are serious allegations 
that were made against you."

   He at one point asked Patel if he was willing to take a test meant to 
measure whether an individual has a drinking problem, prompting Patel to shoot 
back, "I'll take any test you're willing to take."

   The senator called Patel's claims of margaritas in El Salvador "provably 
false." After last year's meeting, Van Hollen publicly accused El Salvador's 
government of having misrepresented the nature of his encounter with Abrego 
Garcia, saying officials there had staged the meeting with drinks appearing to 
be alcohol and angled to set the meeting by a hotel pool.

   The testy exchange occurred at an annual Senate subcommittee budget hearing 
featuring Patel and other senior law enforcement leaders. The director used the 
forum to tout what he described as major crime-fighting achievements since he 
took the position and received a friendly reception from Republican senators 
who praised his leadership.

   Democrats, by contrast, pressed Patel on headline-generating travel that has 
blended his professional duties with private leisure -- including a trip to the 
Winter Olympics in Italy, where he partied with the U.S. men's hockey team 
after their gold medal win -- as well as the mass terminations of agents who 
worked on investigations into President Donald Trump.

   "You attended the Olympics in Milan," said Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware 
Democrat. "How much did your trip cost and to what extent did that help you 
carry out your mission as director of the FBI?"

   Patel responded that the FBI was responsible for security at the Olympics 
and asserted that his trip to Italy helped facilitate the transfer of a Chinese 
cybercriminal to U.S. custody, who had been detained by Italian authorities.