House Judiciary Democrats launched a formal investigation into FBI Director Kash Patel, demanding he complete a standardized 10-question alcohol screening test under penalty of perjury — the latest congressional escalation stemming from The Atlantic‘s explosive reporting on his conduct at the bureau.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the committee’s ranking member, led the charge in a letter sent to Patel on April 21, requiring him to submit a completed Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) — described by lawmakers as the “gold standard” tool for identifying hazardous drinking patterns — along with a sworn statement attesting to the accuracy of his answers, all security clearance questionnaires, and any internal communications related to the probe. Patel has until 5 p.m. on April 28 to comply.
The Atlantic published its investigation on April 18, drawing on more than two dozen current and former FBI officials who alleged Patel drinks to the point of incapacitation on the job, misses briefings, and, on at least one occasion, required SWAT-level breaching equipment to be woken behind locked doors. Patel filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the publication days later.
“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,” Raskin wrote. “These glimpses of your relationship to alcohol would be alarming to see in an FBI agent; for us to see them in the FBI Director himself is shocking.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Dick Durbin, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote separately to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on April 21, demanding the FBI and DOJ preserve all records related to the alleged incidents. Schumer called on Patel to resign immediately, saying his “job is to protect the American people and our Constitution, not to party on the job.”
Rep. Ted Lieu called Patel a “raging alcoholic” and urged him to seek treatment rather than remain in the director’s chair.
Patel’s spokesman dismissed the congressional effort as “baseless and meritless as virtually every other investigation Mr. Raskin has spent his time in Congress pursuing.” The White House has not moved against Patel — press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this week he remains “a critical player on the Administration’s law and order team.”
NBC News reported that Trump previously expressed displeasure to Patel over his locker room appearances and use of a government jet to attend the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, where video of him chugging beers after the US men’s hockey team won gold circulated widely on social media.
The probe also surfaces an earlier episode: during Trump’s transition, Patel disclosed a 2001 arrest for misdemeanor public intoxication in Richmond, Virginia, where he was attending college.
Democrats’ demands carry no enforcement mechanism while Republicans control the House — committee chair Jim Jordan would need to authorize any subpoena. The letter is nonetheless a formal escalation of pressure on Patel, who now faces concurrent legal, legislative, and reputational challenges over the same underlying allegations.
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