A leftist lawfare group is seeking information that may prove claims that FBI Director Kash Patel has behavioral issues that adversely impact his job, including “excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”
In the aftermath of a hit piece by The Atlantic, which cites anonymous sources to allege that the nation’s top law enforcement officer is a drunk, the group Democracy Forward has sent a 16-page Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Justice Department asking for documents, including communications and schedules that could prove the claims made in the explosive article.
The claims were strongly denied by Patel, who wasted little time in filing a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the outlet and its reporter.
And .. here come the Freedom of Information Act requests for Kash Patel records
DC watchdog group Democracy Forward has formally requested Patel’s calendars & any messages from security detail that include words “drinking”, “hungover”, “inebriated”https://t.co/cyKtVxXNOw pic.twitter.com/FY0TtZg3LA
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) April 21, 2026
“Earlier this month, The Atlantic published an article indicating that Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) Director Kash Patel’s behavior, including excessive drinking and unexplained absences, was jeopardizing his role as Director,” the FOIA request reads.
“Democracy Forward Foundation seeks records that would help the public understand the issues raised in the Atlantic article as it relates to previous reporting on potential concerns surrounding Director Patel’s ability to run a key law enforcement agency and his use of taxpayer dollars,” the group wrote in the April 21 communication.
The group requests that the FBI produce electronic communications, including texts and messaging platform activity by Bureau officials and members of Patel’s security detail that contain more than a dozen key terms related to booze and boozing.
The terms include: Alcohol, asleep, drunk, drinking, hungover, inebriated, intoxicated, merchandise, and sleeping, as well as unresponsive and passed out.
The Atlantic piece was like chum in the water for Democrats who are swarming like sharks to the scent of blood.
A group of House Judiciary Committee Democrats is demanding that Patel submit to a 10-question test to identify “hazardous drinking behaviors” under the penalty of perjury, citing the article as well as his being caught “chugging” beers with the U.S. Olympic hockey team after it won the gold medal.
“These glimpses of your relationship to alcohol would be alarming to see in an FBI agent; for us to see them in the FBI Director himself is shocking..”
House Democrats launch probe of Kash Patel, asking Patel to complete a 10-question Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test pic.twitter.com/QnjTEBXCeG
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) April 22, 2026
“These glimpses of your relationship to alcohol would be alarming to see in an FBI agent; for us to see them in the FBI Director himself is shocking and indicative of a public emergency,” the Democrats wrote.
The letter was signed by Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) as the party opens up another line of attack on the FBI chief.
“I can say unequivocally that I never listen to the fake news mafia, and as when they get louder, it just means I’m doing my job,” Patel said on Tuesday at an unrelated news conference.
“I’ve never been intoxicated on the job, and that is why we filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit. And any one of you that wants to participate, bring it on,” he added.
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