Kash Patel to testify before Congress next week

FBI Director Kash Patel is set to testify on Tuesday in front of Congress, according to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In a Wednesday post on the social platform X , the account for the Democrats on the panel said, “FBI Director Kash Patel to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, September 15.”

Patel has had a controversial term as FBI director, facing scrutiny over issues like his travel and alleged drinking habits .

The committee’s chair, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), previously pressed Patel in private on whether he had paid back the government for personal travel, per information obtained by Democrats that was revealed in July.

In May, reports surfaced that Patel took a VIP snorkel trip in Hawaii around the wreckage of the USS Arizona. Patel has also faced criticism over his attendance at the Winter Olympics — which the FBI said aligned with a preexisting work trip — where he was seen partying with the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team after their victory.

Patel sued The Atlantic in April for $250 million after the magazine reported that the director was concerned about potentially losing his job and that he had trouble being reached following nights of alleged excessive drinking.

The Atlantic reported this spring that while heading up the FBI, Patel had consumed alcohol “to the point of obvious intoxication” in the presence of White House and other Trump administration officials. Per the outlet, members of the director’s security detail on multiple occasions also “had difficulty waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated.”