MaddowBlog-House Democrats launch Patel probe, demand he submit to alcohol abuse screening

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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.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. House Democrats demand Kash Patel complete the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test

Link to tweet

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2. Here are the questions Raskin wants Patel to answer:

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3. "Kash Patel got arrested for public urination after a night of drinking"

How did this story not come out during the confirmation

Link to tweet

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4. Discovery in the upcoming lawsuits will be fun

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5. Kash Patel blows past alcohol test deadline as critics label him 'raging alcoholic'

Kash Patel is ignoring the alcohol test deadlines. I suspect that Patel is going to have fun in discovery if his silly case against The Atlantic goes to trial.

FBI Director #KashPatel has not submitted the test results to Congress and hasn't responded to Democrats’ request, the House Judiciary Democrats spokeswoman confirmed to Raw Story.

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-04-29T19:30:20Z

https://www.rawstory.com/kash-patel-2676830790/

Nearly 20 House Democrats demanded last week that FBI Director Kash Patel take and share the results of an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test by Tuesday amid accusations of excessive drinking, but as of Wednesday, Patel has yet to respond to the lawmakers’ request, a House Judiciary Democrats spokeswoman confirmed to Raw Story.

On April 21, 18 Democratic lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee signed off on a letter addressed to Patel citing a “damning and explosive report” published by The Atlantic earlier this month, in which multiple insiders told the magazine that Patel’s “excessive drinking” and “unexplained absences” had “alarmed” his colleagues at the FBI.

In the letter, the lawmakers issued Patel a deadline of April 28 to fill out and submit to Congress the results of the 10-question screening test developed by the World Health Organization in the 1980s to identify harmful alcohol use among individuals.

Patel has fiercely denied the accusations, responding by filing a $250 million lawsuit against The Atlantic for defamation.

“We understand that you have sued the journalists who have reported on the widespread concerns about your job performance and alcohol abuse, demanding a whopping $250 million in damages, plus disgorgement of income,” the letter addressed to Patel said.

“However, the American people deserve to hear the facts directly from you now – not your lawyers weeks or months from now – to determine for ourselves whether your continued leadership of the FBI in fact constitutes a severe ‘national security vulnerability.’”