Earlier this week, we reported on the news that FBI Director Kash Patel is suing The Atlantic, alleging that the magazine defamed him with a recent article about his alcohol intake and job performance.
Patel has repeatedly denied that his drinking is an issue, but he may have trouble making his case in the wake of today’s news that he has twice been arrested for alcohol-related violations.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel speaks during a the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on May 8, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
According to The Intercept, when Patel began working for the Miami-Dade County Public Defender’s Office in 2005, he wrote a letter elaborating on disclosures from his Florida Bar application relating to the two arrests.
He explained that the first incident occurred in February of 2001, when he was a junior at the University of Richmond.
He was under 21 years of age at the time and claimde that he had only had two drinks before getting ejected from the crowd at a Richmond basketball game for “excessive” cheering.
He paid a fine as a result of that run-in with the law.
The second incident occurred in 2005, when Kash was a law student at Pace University in New York City.
He says he was walking home with friends after a night out, when, “in a gross deviation from appropriate conduct, we attempted to relieve our bladders while walking home.”
In that case too, Patel got off with a fine.
“Both of these incidents are not representative of my usual conduct of behavior,” he wrote in the letter, adding:
“And it is my hope that the Board views them as an anomaly. I dually apologize for my improper behavior both to the Board and the community at large.”
“Kash’s entire background was thoroughly examined and vetted prior to him assuming this role,” Erica Knight, a spokesperson for Patel, said this week in response to The Atlantic article.
“These attacks are nothing more than an attempt to undermine a process that has already deemed him suitable to serve and a distraction to the record-breaking success of the FBI under Director Patel.”
“Several officials told me that Patel’s drinking has been a recurring source of concern across the government. They said that he is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication, in many cases at the private club Ned’s in Washington, D.C., while in the presence of White House and other administration staff,” Atlantic staff writer Sarah Fitzpatrick wrote at one point in the controversial article.
“He is also known to drink to excess at the Poodle Room, in Las Vegas, where he frequently spends parts of his weekends,” she continued, adding:
“Early in his tenure, meetings and briefings had to be rescheduled for later in the day as a result of his alcohol-fueled nights, six current and former officials and others familiar with Patel’s schedule told me.”
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.
