Patel posts photo of Van Hollen campaign’s $7,000 bar tab
FBI Director kash Patel released an FEC filing indicating that Sen.Chris Van Hollen’s (D-MD) campaign spent more than $7,000 at a Washington, D.C. bar after a heated budget hearing. During the hearing, Van Hollen challenged Patel with allegations about potential misconduct and asked whether lying to Congress is a crime; Patel denied wrongdoing and later posted the FEC document photo while saying the spending was for a “50-member staff party.”
The exchange escalated as Van Hollen raised claims that Patel was often intoxicated and arduous for staff to reach, supported by clips from the hearing.Patel rejected the accusations as false and criticized Van Hollen in return, including referencing Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador tied to a senator-raphael-warnock-under-investigation-for-voter-registration-misconduct-reports/” title=”Democrat … Raphael Warnock Under Investigation For Voter Registration Misconduct: Reports”>case involving an illegally removed immigrant. patel also discussed FBI performance and defended internal leak-review processes and the use of polygraphs as established bureau practices rather than political retaliation.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted a Federal Election Commission form showing Sen. Chris Van Hollen‘s (D-MD) Senate campaign spent over $7,000 at a Washington, D.C., bar following a stormy budget hearing on Tuesday.
The Maryland Democrat was asking Patel whether he knew lying to Congress was a crime, to which the FBI director denied doing so and added, “Maybe the next time you run up a $7,000 bar tab, we can talk about it.” Van Hollen countered that public money wasn’t used, contrary to what he said Patel had claimed.
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Patel later posted a photo of the FEC file, which showed Van Hollen’s Senate campaign spent over $7,128 at the Lobby Bar in Washington, D.C. Van Hollen said during the hearing Tuesday that it was for a “50-member staff party.”
Van Hollen had pressed Patel during the hearing over allegations involving excessive drinking and claims that FBI personnel had difficulty reaching him.
Sen. @ChrisVanHollen (D-MD) to Kash Patel: “We cannot look away from the credible, extremely troubling reports about your misconduct…Reports of your being so drunk and hungover that your staff had to force entry into your home are extremely alarming.” pic.twitter.com/9YXUNKqrwp
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 12, 2026
Patel called those accusations “unequivocally, categorically false.”
At one point, Patel accused Van Hollen of “slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dime,” triggering a heated exchange between the two men. Patel was referring to Van Hollen’s visit to the country to see Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant who was briefly deported to El Salvador before he was returned and charged with human smuggling last year.
Today, I spoke with Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his wife, Jennifer. In April, when I met with him in El Salvador, Trump said he would never set foot in the U.S. again.
This case has never been about one man alone; if the govt can violate the constitutional rights of one, all our… pic.twitter.com/YRSB1AHNMo
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) December 13, 2025
The FBI director also sparred with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), who told Patel to “stick to podcasting” after video emerged of Patel chugging beer in the locker room of the USA men’s hockey team following their Olympic win over Canada.
“Leave law and order to people who really do care about justice and appearances,” the senator said.
Patel responded with what he described as a historic 20-point decline in the national murder rate, along with 44,000 violent offender arrests and major increases in child exploitation and counterintelligence cases under his tenure. “The mission has never been more successful,” Patel said.
Patel also defended the FBI’s use of internal leak reviews and polygraphs more broadly, describing them as long-standing bureau procedures rather than politically motivated retaliation.
WATCH LIVE: KASH PATEL TESTIFIES ON FBI BUDGET REQUEST
“No one at this FBI is allowed to politicize or weaponize law enforcement,” Patel said. “If you do, you don’t get to work there anymore.”
The bureau is requesting more than $12.5 billion in appropriated funds, amounting to an 18% increase from fiscal 2026.
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