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FBI Director Kash Patel cranked up the heat on Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen (D) on Tuesday by blasting out the leftist's eye-watering bar tab from a swanky D.C. spot on social media.
Patel and Van Hollen went at it during a hearing earlier that day over some Atlantic hit piece claiming the FBI boss has a drinking problem. After the fireworks, Patel dropped a campaign filing from December 12, 2025, showing Van Hollen's operation blew $7,128 at the Lobby Bar in D.C.
“The only person that ran up a $7,000 bar tab in Washington, D.C., at the Lobby Bar was you. The only individual in this room that has been drinking on the taxpayer dime during the day is you,” Patel said during the hearing.
A spokesman for Van Hollen told NBC that “this was a catering charge at a local restaurant where the Senator hosted an after-hours holiday reception as a thank you to the 50+ members of our team, paid for by campaign funds, not taxpayer dollars.”
“The only person that ran up a $7,000 bar tab in Washington, D.C., at the Lobby Bar was you. The only individual in this room that has been drinking on the taxpayer dime during the day is you,” Patel said during the hearing.
A spokesman for Van Hollen told NBC that “this was a catering charge at a local restaurant where the Senator hosted an after-hours holiday reception as a thank you to the 50+ members of our team, paid for by campaign funds, not taxpayer dollars.”
During Tuesday’s hearing, Van Hollen unloaded on Patel over the drinking-on-the-job smears.“Director Patel, these reports about your conduct, including reports of your being so drunk and hungover that your staff had to force entry into your home, are extremely alarming,” Van Hollen said.
“So, there have been no occasions when your security detail had difficulty waking or locating you?” Van Hollen asked Patel.
“Nope, it’s a total farce. I don’t even know where you get this stuff, but it doesn’t make it credible, because you say so,” Patel fired back.
Patel has already slapped The Atlantic with a defamation lawsuit over the anonymous-source hit job. When Van Hollen kept swinging, Patel clapped back with a photo from El Salvador President Nayib Bukele showing the Democrat senator cozying up to accused MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia at a table that sure looked like it featured margaritas.
Bukele captioned the photo by saying that Abrego Garcia was “sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador.”
“Unlike your baseless reports, the only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gang-banging rapist was you,” Patel said.
Both Patel and Van Hollen dared each other to take sobriety tests right there in the hearing. Classic.
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