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BumRushDaShow

(170,872 posts)
Wed Apr 22, 2026, 11:41 AM 17 hrs ago

Democrats Ask Kash Patel To Take Alcohol Disorder Test

Source: Huff Post

Apr 22, 2026, 04:45 AM EDT


WASHINGTON — Democrats want FBI Director Kash Patel to prove he hasn’t got a drinking problem. In a letter to Patel on Tuesday, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), said he should take the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, a short questionnaire used to screen for harmful or hazardous alcohol use.

“There are numerous accounts that you consume alcohol to the point of illness, direct profanity-laced outbursts at support staff, and pass out drunk behind locked doors in episodes making you so unreachable that agents have had to fetch SWAT-level breaching equipment to awaken you,” the letter says.

The letter is based primarily on a story published last week in The Atlantic reporting that two dozen unnamed sources inside and outside the FBI believe “the problems with his conduct go well beyond what has been previously known, and include both conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences.”

Patel denied the story and sued The Atlantic this week for $250 million in damages over its alleged defamation of his character, claiming the magazine published “false and obviously fabricated allegations designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office.”. But there’s no denying that time Patel aggressively chugged beer — on camera — with the American men’s ice hockey team after their gold medal victory in the Winter Olympics.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kash-patel-drinking-atlantic-defamation_n_69e831bae4b0dc1990b723a4?origin=home-latest-news-unit



Link to House Judiciary Democrats PRESS RELEASE - Judiciary Democrats Launch Investigation into Reports of FBI Director Kash Patel’s Alcohol Abuse, Demand He Submit to Alcohol Abuse Screening

Link to House Judiciary Democrats LETTER (PATEL inquiry) (PDF) - https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026-04-21-raskin-et-al-to-patel-fbi-re-conduct.pdf

Link to House Judiciary Democrats LETTER (PATEL inquiry CC: COMER) (PDF) - https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026-04-21-raskin-et-al-to-jordan-re-patel.pdf
12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

Ray Bruns

(6,531 posts)
1. Kash Patel has responded by declining to take the test because he's too hung over from the night before
Wed Apr 22, 2026, 11:57 AM
16 hrs ago

FakeNoose

(41,989 posts)
4. There should be a survey of the people around him, including his girlfriend, co-workers, etc.
Wed Apr 22, 2026, 12:07 PM
16 hrs ago

He'll lie through the entire test, so his test results will be questionable. But the people who interact with him on a daily basis ... they're the ones who know the truth.

mopinko

(73,812 posts)
9. beat me to it. those tests
Wed Apr 22, 2026, 12:35 PM
16 hrs ago

r only as good as the answers u give. if u dont want to admit u have a problem, u lie.

ultralite001

(2,591 posts)
5. Forget this... Go all in...
Wed Apr 22, 2026, 12:11 PM
16 hrs ago

Self reporting is notorious for self reporting bias. People lie.

Serious questions about serious compromise of the FBI's Director to perform his official duties require serious answers.

Random blood + urine alcohol / drug testing... Breathalyzer... The works... By independent, board certified, legally qualified individuals +
labs. No appointments. No time to prep. No time to swap bodily fluids w/ another individual or otherwise fudge the results. No cheating.

Release the results to the American public -- All the results.

America is in peril. Ka$h is doing nothing to make America safer, +, as Director of the FBI, Ka$h may be significantly contributing to it's problems...

Let the investigations begin.

Remember the FBI motto: "Fidelity -- Bravery -- Integrity"...

Once that's done, let's move on to the President + members of his Cabinet + other appointees... It's time for Spring Cleaning...

TheRickles

(3,450 posts)
6. The Dems should do a head-to-head challenge. Line up Kash and Hegseth and whoever
Wed Apr 22, 2026, 12:13 PM
16 hrs ago

in a face-off against AOC and Raskin and whoever, as they complete this questionnaire.

And then round two will be cognitive testing, with Trump going head-to-head against Schiff (or anyone, really). And when the R's decline, call them "Chicken!". I'm guessing it'd be good for a few headlines, either way.

LetMyPeopleVote

(180,763 posts)
7. MaddowBlog-House Democrats launch Patel probe, demand he submit to alcohol abuse screening
Wed Apr 22, 2026, 12:30 PM
16 hrs ago

If the beleaguered FBI director was hoping the allegations about his alleged drinking problem would be a one-day story, he has reason to be disappointed.

I have a hunch Kash Patel won’t like the fact that House Democrats are demanding that he submit to alcohol abuse screening.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-04-22T14:29:16.781Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/house-democrats-launch-patel-probe-demand-he-submit-to-alcohol-abuse-screening

A day later, House Democrats went noticeably further. On Tuesday, Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, not only announced a new investigation into Patel, but the Maryland Democrat and his partisan colleagues also demanded that Patel submit to an alcohol abuse screening. From the written correspondence sent to the bureau’s director:

For the sake of our own security, we need to know, for example, ‘how many drinks containing alcohol do you have on a typical day when you are drinking,’ ‘how often during the last year have you failed to do what was normally expected from you because of drinking,’ ‘how often during the last year have you needed a first drink in the morning to get yourself going after a heavy drinking session,’ and ‘how often during the last year have you been unable to remember what happened the night before because you had been drinking?


The Judiciary Committee’s Democrats also sent a parallel letter to Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who chairs the panel, urging additional security in light of the seriousness of the allegations.

“Given the severity of the national security risks associated with these, we request that you make clear to Director Patel that if he fails to provide the requested information by next week’s deadline, the Committee will be requiring him to appear at a hearing in person and under oath to address Members’ well-founded concerns,” they wrote.,,,,

Meanwhile, Donald Trump hasn’t exactly scrambled to defend his handpicked FBI director. In fact, the president has been conspicuously quiet about the former podcast personality of late, failing to say his name out loud or online in roughly a month.

The Atlantic’s report added that Patel is “deeply concerned that his job is in jeopardy.” There’s no great mystery as to why.

BidenRocks

(3,393 posts)
8. A blood test focusing on the Hepatic panel.
Wed Apr 22, 2026, 12:33 PM
16 hrs ago

Drinking problems will show up in elevated liver enzymes.
Mine ratted me out.
Light Cirrhosis. Busted.

travelingthrulife

(5,376 posts)
12. Surely someone was videoing the FBI having to use a battering ram to get into
Wed Apr 22, 2026, 02:55 PM
13 hrs ago

his office when he was passed out.

Put it out there if you took an oath to protect our country.

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