In a party where there is no de facto front-runner two years away from a presidential election, everybody with any kind of profile and some sort of ambition is pretty much a runner, if not at the front.

This is why Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is making arather visible buffoonof himself to objective nonpartisan (or conservative, alternatively) observers: He needs to raise his visibility for the long-shot presidential run he’s obviously preparing himself for. (He refuses to give a yes-or-noansweron whether he’s prepping a run, which is a great way to answer in the affirmative without actually saying those words.)

Which, fine. Respect the hustle. But then don’t call someone an alcoholic in a hearing after you’ve been slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gang-banging rapist. As Sen. Van Hollen found out when he accused FBI Director Kash Patel of being an alcoholic, only for Patel to note (rather accurately) that “the only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gang-banging rapist was you.”

That’s probably not going to look too good in 2028 ads. Just saying.

Patel appeared Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee, which was ostensibly to talk about the FBI’s budget. That’s not interesting and doesn’t generate donor clips, however, so Sen. Van Hollen decided to go for the clicky-clickies and ask Patel about his alcohol use.

This mostly references a series of articles inThe Atlanticrelying on a handful of anonymous sources whose position (and thus, potential animuses against Patel) was withheld but claimed, in rather vague terms, that there had been concern about his drinking in the federal government apparatus.

Patel is suing The Atlantic for $250 million in libel damages, and for the moment, the number of pieces with vague sourcing about Patel and booze that the liberal outlet is churning out has diminished into a trickle of farce. But I digress, because my opinions about the grist that The Atlantic is providing is less newsworthy than the grist mill of innuendoSen. Van Hollenseemed to be running Tuesday.

“Director Patel, these reports about your conduct, including reports of your being so drunk and hungover that your staff had to force entry into your home, are extremely alarming,”Van Hollensaid.

This is referencing the most substantive, if also still mostly unsubstantiated, claim from The Atlantic that Patel was once unable to be roused, and “breaching equipment” had to be used to enter his house. Again, this is what the kids like to call “big if true,” with that “if” in bolded italics.

Patel responded that “it’s a total farce. I don’t even know where you get this stuff, but it doesn’t make it credible, because you say so.” After Van Hollen noted The Atlantic report, Patel shot back and reminded everyone about Van Hollen’s infamous photo op with Kilmar Abrego Garcia,the alleged MS-13 memberwho was deported to El Salvador’s CECOT; Van Hollen traveled down there to share a drink with him. (It’s worth noting that gang affiliation and allegations ofsexual misconductare all alleged, but a judge had ruled Abrego Garcia deportable — just not to El Salvador.)

Source: VidNews » Feed