Overview
- At a Senate budget hearing Tuesday, FBI Director Kash Patel called reports of excessive drinking and missed work "unequivocally, categorically false" during a tense exchange with Sen. Chris Van Hollen.
- Pressed on the claims, Patel agreed to take the WHO Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test if Van Hollen did the same, describing a side‑by‑side screening that uses a short questionnaire to flag risky drinking.
- Patel has filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic over its reporting, and the magazine says it stands by its story and will fight what it calls a meritless case.
- The FBI says no journalist is being targeted in a criminal probe, even as reporting describes internal leak-hunting steps such as polygraph orders for staff.
- Republican senators praised Patel’s record while Democrats questioned his travel and judgment, signaling deeper partisan scrutiny and a court fight that could force internal records into view through discovery.