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The passage describes a contentious Senate Appropriations hearing in which Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen challenged FBI Director Kash Patel about allegations that Patel is a heavy drinker. It claims Van hollen is trying to boost his visibility for a long-shot presidential run and that his line of questioning is politically risky given Van Hollen\u2019s own history of alleged hypocrisy-especially a photo-op involving a deportation trip where he was said to have been drinking using taxpayer funds.<\/p>\n

it further alleges that reports about Patel\u2019s supposed alcohol problems originated largely<\/a> from anonymous sourcing (notably discussed as part of a dispute cited from *The Atlantic*), and it highlights Patel\u2019s rebuttal: he called the claims a \u201cfarce\u201d and counterattacked Van Hollen by pointing to evidence he said showed Van Hollen ran up a bar tab in Washington, D.C. The author portrays the exchange as a public blame game, ending with the claim that Van Hollen \u201cfell into\u201d his own trap by raising the alcohol issue at all. <\/p>\n