Kash Patel, the embattled FBI director, launched a blistering attack on Senator Chris Van Hollen during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, accusing the Maryland Democrat of “slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar” with a convicted gang rapist. The outburst came as Patel faced questioning over reports of his own excessive drinking and unexplained absences on the job.
Patel and Van Hollen clash over ‘Margarita‑gate’ hoax
Van Hollen, the ranking member of the Senate appropriations subcommittee, had pressed Patel on allegations first reported by the Atlantic magazine that described “bouts of excessive drinking” and “conspicuous inebriation” while leading the FBI. The senator also referred to claims that Patel’s staff once had to force entry into his home because he was so drunk or hungover. Patel, who has filed a $250m defamation lawsuit against the Atlantic over the story, dismissed the questions as “a total farce” and “unequivocally, categorically false”.
The exchange turned combustible when Van Hollen said he was repeating claims the Atlantic had published. Patel shot back: “The only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gang banging rapist was you.” The remark was a reference to what has become known inside Washington as “Margarita‑gate” – a hoax that Van Hollen has long accused the government of El Salvador of staging.
Last April, Van Hollen travelled to El Salvador to meet Kilmar Ábrego García, a man who had been wrongfully deported to the Cecot mega‑prison. Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s far‑right president, posted photographs on X showing the pair at a hotel table with cocktail glasses, captioning them as if the men were “sipping margaritas”. Van Hollen later accused an aide to Bukele of placing the glasses on the table just before the photos were taken, asserting that neither he nor Ábrego García touched them. The senator pointed to visual evidence: the rims of both glasses were covered in salt or sugar but remained completely undisturbed, showing they had not been drunk from. Van Hollen also released a photo taken before the glasses appeared, showing only cups of coffee and glasses of water.
“This is a lesson into the lengths that president Bukele will go to deceive people about what’s going on,” Van Hollen said at the time. Despite the evidence, Trump administration officials, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, the House Republican conference, and pro‑Trump media outlets repeatedly repeated Bukele’s false assertion as fact. On Tuesday, Patel falsely claimed there was video of Van Hollen drinking margaritas with Ábrego García in El Salvador.
Van Hollen told the FBI director: “You made these provably false statements that I know are sort of like urban legend in rightwing media about margaritas in El Salvador, which is provably false. So, coming from the mouth of an FBI director, to make provably false statements in a hearing like this, is extremely troubling.” Jonathan Martin, the Politico columnist, noted that Patel repeating the hoax demonstrates how “modern information silos” work – both men knew the margarita claim was staged but assumed no penalty in stating it as fact because the rightwing media consumed by Trump supporters has treated it as real for more than a year.
When Van Hollen asked if Patel would take a test to determine whether he has a drinking problem, the FBI director snapped that he would if the senator took it alongside him. Patel also denied personally ordering polygraph tests to find leaks inside the bureau, saying an “internal inspection review process” was followed by career staff. However, the FBI has confirmed it began administering polygraph tests to identify sources of information leaks, with reports indicating that more than two dozen staffers – including members of Patel’s security detail and IT personnel – have been tested. Senator Patty Murray, the Democratic vice‑chair of the appropriations committee, scolded Patel over a video that surfaced earlier this year showing him chugging a bottle and spraying beer in a locker room with the US men’s hockey team after they won gold at the Winter Olympics in Milan. “If you want to pass out liquor or pop bottles in a locker room, stick to podcasting,” she said. Van Hollen also accused Patel of using FBI resources for “political revenge” instead of national security.
Environmental groups back Maine challenger
On the campaign trail, a coalition of national green organisations has thrown its weight behind Graham Platner, the progressive populist challenging longtime Republican senator Susan Collins in Maine. Oil Change Action, the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, Food and Water Action, and Friends of the Earth Action – the political arms of major US environmental nonprofits – announced their endorsements on Tuesday.
“High energy bills are on the ballot in Maine and Graham Platner has a plan to deliver the relief communities need,” said Sam Bernhardt, political director of Food and Water Action. “Fossil fuel corporations have spent decades profiteering off pollution while driving families into debt, endangering critical natural resources, and threatening a livable climate.”
The endorsements came days after Platner unveiled a sweeping energy plan that includes a windfall profits tax on oil corporations amid the ongoing Iran War, the creation of a fund for clean energy projects, and a national freeze on electricity rate increases. The groups also praised Platner’s support for a temporary ban on data centre construction. Maine’s legislature last month passed a moratorium on new large data centres, citing their energy use and other impacts, but Governor Janet Mills – who recently abandoned her primary campaign against Platner – vetoed the measure.
Florida ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention centre to close
Detainees at the remote immigration jail in the Florida Everglades, nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz” by state officials, are set to be removed next month before the facility shuts down, according to an unnamed federal official and people familiar with its operations. The jail, officially known as the South Florida Detention Facility, has faced years of criticism over inhumane conditions, environmental concerns, and its construction on Indigenous land. Officials at the facility told vendors on Tuesday that it was closing and would be taken apart starting in June.
The closure follows months of litigation over allegations that detainees were routinely subjected to human rights abuses and denied due process before being deported. A federal judge rejected Florida’s argument that a prior order mandating better attorney access for detainees amounted to “court‑ordered” speech and was too costly. The same judge, Sheri Polster Chappell of the Middle District of Florida, issued a series of rulings on Tuesday ordering the release of some detainees and prompt bond hearings for others. Reports indicate that federal and state officials have been discussing the closure partly due to high operating costs.
Other developments
Marty Makary resigned as commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday after a 13‑month tenure that frequently drew White House frustration over delays in regulating flavoured vaping products. President Donald Trump confirmed the resignation, calling Makary “a great guy” who “was having some difficulty”. Kyle Diamantas, previously the agency’s top food official, will serve as acting replacement.
In Palm Beach, Florida, a Democratic “field hearing” into Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking crimes concluded after three hours of testimony from survivors. Survivors described being recruited as teenagers from Trump’s Mar‑a‑Lago resort to provide sexual services for Epstein’s clients. Democrats attacked the Republican committee majority for refusing to hold formal hearings into a scandal that has dogged Donald Trump’s second term.
The Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh to a 14‑year term as a Federal Reserve governor, clearing the way for his expected appointment as the next Fed chair once Jerome Powell’s term ends on Friday. The vote was close, with Senator John Fetterman the only Democrat to support Warsh. Concerns have been raised about the Fed’s independence amid ongoing pressure from President Trump for interest rate cuts.
Jules Hurst III, the Pentagon’s chief financial officer, told a House appropriations subcommittee that the cost of the war in Iran has risen to “closer” to $29bn – an increase of $4bn from estimates two weeks ago – because of “repair and replacement of equipment” and “general operational costs”. Defence secretary Pete Hegseth said he has a plan to escalate or retrograde fighting as necessary but declined to give specifics.
Representative Jen Kiggans, a Virginia Republican, faced calls to resign after she agreed with a conservative talkshow host who told House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries to “get your cotton‑picking hands off of Virginia”. During the broadcast, Kiggans said “That’s right, ditto.” She later distanced herself from the remark, saying she did not condone the language but was agreeing that Jeffries should stay out of Virginia politics.
US inflation jumped to 3.8% in April, the highest level since 2023, driven by rising energy prices linked to the conflict in the Middle East. The core inflation rate, which excludes food and energy, rose to 2.8%.
