FBI Director Kash Patel’s testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee got off to a fiery start on Tuesday afternoon when Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) peppered him with questions about reports on his alcohol consumption, including The Atlantic‘s reporting about how Patel is prone to “excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”
Van Hollen asked whether that report was true and whether FBI employees ever had challenges contacting Patel due to drinking. Patel denied multiple allegations along those lines.
“Nope, it’s a total farce. I don’t even know where you get this stuff,” Patel said. “But it doesn’t make it credible because you say this stuff.”
“I’m not saying it, Director Patel, it’s been written and documented,” Van Hollen responded.
“You are literally saying it,” Patel punched back.
“No, I’m saying they’re reports,” Van Hollen said.
That’s when Patel went nuclear on the senator.
“Unlike those baseless reports, the only person that was slingin’ margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gangbanging rapist was you!” Patel told him.
He was referring to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who immigrated to the United States illegally from El Salvador and has been at the center of an immigration battle with the Trump administration. The Department of Homeland Security has accused Abrego Garcia of being a wife-beater and MS-13 gang member. Abrego Garcia and his legal team have denied allegations of him being a member of MS-13.
Van Hollen visited Abrego Garcia last year in El Salvador, after he was wrongfully deported from the U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled last April that not only did the Trump DOJ wrongfully deport Abrego Garcia, who another judge had granted protected status in the U.S., Xinis slammed the Trump administration for providing “no evidence” of any gang affiliations to her court before arresting and indefinitely incarcerating him in one of the world’s most notorious prisons.
The senator was seen sipping on water in pictures taken of their meeting, with Van Hollen saying afterwards it was a “simple humanitarian request” to check on Abrego Garcia’s well-being.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele mocked him for the trip at the time, saying Van Hollen was “sipping margaritas” in the “tropical paradise.” Van Hollen denied that framing and said he and Abrego Garcia did not enjoy any alcoholic drinks; he denied the margarita claim again on Tuesday when Patel revived it. Reporting at the time revealed that an aide to Bukele, who is ardently pro-Trump, staged the meeting in a casual setting and placed tropical drinks on the table.
Patel continued pelting Van Hollen from there.
“The only person that ran up a $7,000 bar tab in Washington, D.C at The Lobby Bar was you!” Patel said while pointing his finger at Van Hollen. “So the only individual in this room that has been drinking on the taxpayer dime during the day is you!”
“Director Patel, come on!” Van Hollen protested. “These are serious allegations against you.”
Patel said the allegations were bogus and reiterated his claim that Van Hollen was drinking margaritas with Abrego Garcia. The senator said that was not true.
“This is the example of ultimate hypocrisy. I will not be tarnished by baseless accusations,” Patel added.
The two continued to squabble after that.
Watch above via C-SPAN3.
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