House Judiciary Committee Democrats are demanding that FBI Director Kash Patel complete an alcohol use screening test and provide a sworn statement verifying his answers, following allegations published in The Atlantic about his drinking habits.
In a letter sent to Patel on Tuesday, Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and more than a dozen other Democrats on the committee cited the Atlantic report as grounds for concern, arguing that alleged excessive drinking could compromise U.S. national security.
The letter attached a standard alcohol screening questionnaire that asks questions including how many drinks a person has on a typical day, whether drinking has caused failures to meet normal expectations, and whether the drinker has experienced memory blackouts.
What the Right Is Saying
Republicans and the White House have defended Patel, dismissing the Democrats’ concerns as politically motivated attacks.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this week that Patel remained a critical player in the administration and has the full confidence of President Trump.
Patel’s attorneys have sued The Atlantic over the story, seeking $250 million in damages and calling the article “a sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece.”
“The Atlantic was given the truth before they published, and they chose to print falsehoods anyway,” Patel said in a statement.
The White House has previously conveyed displeasure to Patel about his behavior, including his attendance at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics and social media videos showing him drinking beer.
Patel’s spokesperson noted that a 2001 public intoxication arrest, which was disclosed during his Senate confirmation, is a “25-year-old college incident” that has already been reviewed by the Judiciary Committee.
What the Left Is Saying
Democrats framing the request as a matter of national security and public accountability said Patel’s reported drinking habits raise serious concerns about his fitness to lead the FBI.
“It is no surprise that your purported drinking habits and erratic schedule have had demonstrably disastrous effects on your performance of duties as FBI Director,” Raskin wrote in the letter. “Your inability to control your impulses has reportedly undermined high-stakes criminal investigations.”
The Democrats requested that Patel complete the screening under oath, subject to penalty of perjury if his answers are found to be false.
Raskin’s office noted that the letter was a formal request rather than a subpoena, acknowledging the minority party’s limited authority to compel testimony without GOP support.
Ben Williamson, a spokesman for Patel, called the Democrats’ probe “as baseless and meritless as virtually every other investigation Mr. Raskin has spent his time in Congress pursuing.”
What the Numbers Show
Patel is seeking $250 million in damages from The Atlantic over the alleged defamation lawsuit.
The letter was signed by more than a dozen House Judiciary Committee Democrats, though the party holds the minority in Congress and lacks unilateral subpoena authority.
Patel was arrested in 2001 on charges of misdemeanor public intoxication in Richmond, Virginia, where he was attending college. He was found guilty three days later, according to public records.
The Atlantic reported that Patel frantically called aides on April 10 after experiencing a technical issue logging into an internal computer system, which administration officials quickly clarified was not related to any firing.
A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a separate lawsuit Patel filed against former FBI assistant director Frank Figliuzzi over comments made on MSNBC about Patel being “visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building.”
The Bottom Line
The Democrats’ request faces significant obstacles, as Republicans control the House and have shown no indication they will compel Patel to comply with the demand for a sworn alcohol screening.
Patel has denied the Atlantic allegations and is pursuing legal action against the magazine, while also defending against what his team calls false reporting about the April 10 login incident.
The dispute highlights partisan tensions over Patel’s tenure, which has included prior questions about his disclosure of a decades-old arrest and concerns raised during his confirmation process.
What to watch: Whether Republicans on the Judiciary Committee take any action on the Democratic request, and how The Atlantic responds to Patel’s $250 million lawsuit.