Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) has made good on a dare from FBI Director Kash Patel, releasing his own Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) results and publicly pressing Patel to follow through on his promise to do the same.
The exchange erupted during a tense Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Tuesday, where Patel defended the bureau’s $12.5 billion budget request amid fresh scrutiny over his drinking habits. Van Hollen cited a recent report from The Atlantic that detailed allegations of excessive drinking, including claims that Patel was so incapacitated that staff had to force entry into his home.
“When your private actions make it impossible for you to perform your public duties, we have a big problem,” Van Hollen told Patel during the hearing. “You cannot perform those public duties if you’re incapacitated.”
Patel denied the allegations, calling the article “unequivocally, categorically false.” But he agreed to take the 10-question AUDIT survey — a standard screening tool that asks about drinking frequency, loss of control, and feelings of guilt — and challenged Van Hollen to join him. “Let’s go,” Patel said. “Side by side.”
Van Hollen posted his results online Wednesday, reporting he drinks alcohol two to three times a week but answered “never” to all other questions about impaired control or negative consequences. “Given all the lies he told yesterday, I imagine he’ll fudge the numbers here, but let’s see yours, Director Patel,” Van Hollen wrote.
The back-and-forth quickly escalated beyond the hearing room. Patel posted a Federal Election Commission filing showing Van Hollen’s Senate campaign spent $7,000 on catering at Lobby Bar, accusing the senator of running up a bar tab. Van Hollen fired back that the expense was for a staff holiday reception, paid with campaign funds, not taxpayer money. “You got me, I catered a holiday reception for my staff with campaign — not taxpayer — dollars!” he wrote. “Now let’s see your receipts. #ReleaseTheTab.”
House Judiciary Democrats had earlier called on Patel to take the AUDIT test, which asks whether drinking has ever led to failure to meet expectations, inability to stop, or feelings of remorse. The FBI did not respond to a request for comment on whether Patel plans to release his results.
The clash is the latest chapter in a broader political battle over Patel’s fitness for office. Late-night shows have lampooned the drinking allegations, and Democrats have seized on the controversy to question Patel’s judgment and reliability. Van Hollen argued during the hearing that if the reports are true, they represent “a gross dereliction of your duty and a betrayal of public trust.”
Patel, for his part, has dismissed the accusations as partisan attacks and sought to turn the tables on Van Hollen, accusing him of drinking margaritas during a visit to El Salvador with a mistakenly deported man — a claim Van Hollen called a stunt by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
