Sen. Chris Van Hollen said FBI Director Kash Patel should be removed, citing reports that Patel’s alleged drinking has left him “incapacitated” at times. The comments came days after the two clashed during a Senate hearing and after Patel denied the allegation
Sen. Chris Van Hollen pushed for FBI Director Kash Patel to be fired, arguing that Patel cannot effectively lead the bureau amid reports that his drinking has repeatedly left him “incapacitated.”
Appearing Sunday, Van Hollen was asked whether he believes the FBI “can function effectively” with Patel at the helm.. “Oh. I don’t. ” he responded. adding it was “not simply because of this issue” but because “there are so many reports that indicate that his drinking has meant that he’s incapacitated at many times.” Van Hollen said he “really don’t care what he does on his free time so long as he’s not putting the public at risk” and “so long as he’s not compromising his important mission as director of the FBI.”
The remarks followed a Senate hearing where Van Hollen and Patel butted heads over reporting that Patel has acted erratically. a dispute tied to a report published last month.. Patel has denied the allegations.. On April 20, he filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the Atlantic Monthly Group, the publisher of The Atlantic.
In the same interview. Van Hollen escalated his critique beyond the drinking claims. accusing Patel of having “completely weaponized the FBI.” He said Patel “went after agents who helped [to] investigate the Jan.. 6 rioters. ” and “More recently. he went after agents who were a part of the investigation of Trump’s taking classified materials to Mar-a-Lago.” Van Hollen said those agents “were following their orders. ” and he added that “many of them were part of the counter-espionage unit with respect to Iran.” He argued Patel “fired them at the very moment we need them most when we have this conflict with Iran” and said. “So I think he needs to go for a whole host of reasons.”
The exchange also returned to the question of proof.. Welker pressed Van Hollen on whether he believes Patel will take an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test to disprove the report. pointing to the fact that Van Hollen had taken such a test and had challenged Patel to do the same.. “Well senator, you took the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test.. You challenged Director Patel to do the same.. Do you have any indication that he’s actually going to take that test?. Or do you think that that was a challenge that. to some extent. you did just to prove a point?” she asked.
Van Hollen replied that “he said in public testimony that he would do it.” He added that Patel is “also under oath automatically in the sense that lying to Congress is a crime. ” and that “he said he’s going to do it.” Van Hollen then described his doubt: “My sense from Patel’s conduct overall is he may or may not do it. but I unfortunately won’t be able to believe the results.. Because in that hearing, he did lie several times.”
The pattern in the exchange was stark: Van Hollen pointed to repeated reports of Patel being “incapacitated. ” then tied that concern to a wider picture of removing agents at moments he said the FBI would need them. while insisting the question of whether Patel takes an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test doesn’t fully settle the issue—because Van Hollen argued Patel “did lie several times” during the hearing.
The dispute leaves Patel in a defensive posture after publicly denying the allegations and filing a $250 million defamation lawsuit, while Van Hollen’s call for removal rests on both the drinking claims and his broader accusations that Patel’s actions have undermined key investigative work.
Chris Van Hollen Kash Patel FBI director Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test defamation lawsuit Jan. 6 investigation Mar-a-Lago classified materials counter-espionage unit Iran Senate hearing