By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday pressed FBI Director Kash Patel over a media report that episodes of excessive drinking interfered with his ability to lead the premier U.S. law enforcement agency, drawing an angry response from Patel.
At a hearing before a Senate budget panel, Patel defended his leadership of the FBI against Democratic accusations that his conduct, including the reported drinking, had undermined national security and demonstrated poor judgment.
It was Patel's first appearance before Congress since his beer-drinking celebration at the Milan Winter Olympics and the publication of an article in the Atlantic magazine drew renewed scrutiny to his tenure. Both matters were raised in the hearing.
Patel testified in support of the Trump administration's proposed $12.5 billion 2027 budget for the FBI and defended his performance, saying violent crime had fallen over the past year while FBI arrests had increased.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, questioned Patel about the Atlantic report, which detailed instances of "conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences" during his tenure that had alarmed officials at the FBI and the Justice Department. Patel has sued the Atlantic and its reporter over the article, accusing them of defamation. The magazine has said it stands behind its reporting.
"If true, they demonstrate a gross dereliction of your duty and a betrayal of public trust," Van Hollen said at the start of the hearing.
Patel, who was nominated to the post by President Donald Trump, denied what was reported in the article, calling it a "total farce."
He then accused Van Hollen of "slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar," a reference to the senator's trip last year to visit Kilmar Abrego, a Salvadoran migrant from Maryland who was imprisoned in El Salvador following wrongful deportation by the Trump administration.
Van Hollen responded that Patel's statement was "provably false." Photos of the trip showed Van Hollen and Abrego with cocktail glasses on a table, but Van Hollen later said the glasses were placed there by Salvadoran government officials to undermine the credibility of the meeting.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
