FBI Director Kash Patel’s appearance before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday fell apart as soon as he was asked about his widely reported drinking habits.It was the bureau chief’s first time back on Capitol Hill since The Atlantic published multiple bombshell reports detailing how Patel’s alleged substance abuse and his unexplained absences had alarmed officials in and out of the agency.But the topic was apparently still too hot for Patel to handle come Tuesday. In one particularly heated exchange with Senator Chris Van Hollen, Patel resorted to a barrage of lies and mockery in a futile attempt to deflect from his issues.“You have publicly denied those allegations and filed a defamation lawsuit, so today as you testify before Congress, is it your testimony that those allegations are categorically false?” asked Van Hollen.“Unequivocally, categorically false,” Patel said.“So there have been no occasions in your tenure when FBI personnel were unable to promptly reach you?” pressed Van Hollen.Patel insisted that federal employees have been able to reach him at any hour of the day. But the line of questioning flew off the rails when Van Hollen asked for confirmation that there had been “no occasions when [Patel’s] security detail had difficulty waking or locating” him. “Nope, it’s a total farce, I don’t even know where you get this stuff, but that doesn’t make it credible because you say so,” Patel deadpanned, slowly blinking his eyes.“I’m not saying it, Director Patel, it’s written and documented—” Van Hollen said, when Patel interjected: “You are literally saying it.”“No, I am saying that these are reports, Director Patel,” Van Hollen clarified.“Unlike baseless reports—the only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gangbanging rapist was you. The only person that ran up a several thousand–dollar bar tab in Washington, D.C. … was you,” Patel said, referring to when Van Hollen visited Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland constituent who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador’s mega-prison by the Trump administration last year, to advocate for his release.“This is the ultimate example of hypocrisy. I will not be tarnished by baseless allegations … by the media,” Patel shouted.“Director Patel, come on. These were serious allegations that were made,” Van Hollen said. “The fact that you mention that indicates you don’t know what you are talking about.”WOW -- Patel snaps at Van Hollen and attacks him with debunked smears, saying, "the only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador with taxpayer dollars with a convicted gang-banging rapist was you" pic.twitter.com/CFNpGOU7YU— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 12, 2026