Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are demanding that FBI Director Kash Patel submit to an alcohol use screening and publicly answer claims that his drinking and behavior have jeopardized national security.
In an April 21 letter, Democrats in the committee, led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland), called the 10‑question Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, or AUDIT, the "gold standard" in the United States and the world for "assessing harmful patterns of alcohol consumption" and "routinely used by individuals to help identify hazardous drinking behaviors."
The probe comes less than a week after The Atlantic published a report in which more than two dozen past and present bureau employees accused the FBI director of regularly drinking to excess, rendering him unable to perform his duties — a claim Patel denies.
The lawmakers gave Patel until 5 p.m. ET on April 28 to complete the screening and submit a sworn statement attesting to the accuracy of his answers.
"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,'" the Democrats wrote.
