On Wednesday, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the House Judiciary Committee’s Ranking Member, disclosed that an investigation has been initiated concerning allegations of excessive drinking by FBI Director Kash Patel.
In contrast to the Senate, the House’s minority party possesses the power to conduct investigations.
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The committee’s Democrats have stated their intent to investigate the claims about Patel’s drinking and have called for the FBI Director to undergo an alcohol use disorder screening.
In a letter to Patel, the Judiciary Committee Democrats expressed concerns:
A recent and explosive report has uncovered that FBI personnel are both privately and publicly concerned about your “episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”1 Reports indicate that you consume alcohol to the point of illness, launch profanity-laden outbursts at staff, and pass out drunk behind locked doors, making you so unreachable that agents had to use SWAT-level breaching equipment to wake you.
Repeatedly vanishing for extended periods, only to return visibly intoxicated, your alleged drinking habits and erratic schedule have reportedly had a detrimental impact on your ability to perform duties as FBI Director.
Your staff’s reported difficulty in contacting you has supposedly led to delays in crucial decisions on terror investigations, including the issuance of FISA warrants.
Additionally, your inability to curb your impulses has allegedly compromised significant criminal investigations, such as the manhunt for the Brown University mass shooter and the search for Charlie Kirk’s assassin last year. During these probes, you reportedly disseminated inaccurate information.
The public has witnessed your behavior: transporting alcohol on the FBI jet, consuming “aperitivo” with foreign dignitaries, and drinking beers in the Team USA locker room at the Italy Olympics, as seen in a viral video. Such behavior is alarming for any FBI agent, but for the Director, it signals a public emergency.
Federal law prohibits employees in competitive civil service jobs from “habitually using intoxicating beverages to excess,” a rule enforced by the Department of Justice Ethics Handbook for all Department employees, including the FBI Director.
It is surprising that the potential of the FBI Director being impaired on duty, risking national security, is not receiving more attention.
The investigation aims to thoroughly examine the allegations of Patel’s alcohol misuse.
