(CNN) 鈥� Top Trump administration officials have made it abundantly clear from Day One just how little regard they have for Congress, including and possibly especially its constitutional oversight duties.
Just look at former Attorney General at her February hearings, or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth鈥檚 over-the-top of late. The general strategy seems to revolve around attacking lawmakers to avoid answering even straightforward questions about dicey subjects 鈥� even if the questioner is a fellow Republican.
But rarely has an appearance epitomized the administration鈥檚 utter disdain for accountability like .
Members of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee pressed Patel on a number of questions about his stewardship of the FBI, including a recent that he has alarmed colleagues with his excessive drinking (he has denied these claims and ) and his exorbitant celebrating with the US hockey team after its Olympic win in Italy.
Things got particularly testy with Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who read an opening statement particularly critical of Patel and his alleged drinking habits.
When Patel got the chance to respond, he wasn鈥檛 content to deny the reporting. He tried to flip it back on the Maryland Democrat.
鈥淭he only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gangbanging rapist was you,鈥� Patel told Van Hollen. 鈥淭he only person that ran up a $7,000 bar tab in Washington, DC, at the Lobby Bar was you. The only individual in this room that has been drinking on the taxpayer dime during the day is you.鈥�
Allies of President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration gobbled up the exchange and shared it far and wide on social media.
But there鈥檚 a problem with that Patel quote 鈥� four of them, in fact, all of which the FBI director managed to squeeze into just 20 seconds of testimony.
Patel鈥檚 allusion was to Van Hollen鈥檚 visit last year to El Salvador to . Abrego Garcia is the undocumented immigrant from Van Hollen鈥檚 home state whom the Trump administration illegally deported to a brutal El Salvador prison.
Except:
- Abrego Garcia has not been convicted of being in a gang.
- He has not been convicted of rape.
- The 鈥渕argaritas鈥� that were placed in front of Van Hollen and Abrego Garcia during a photo op President Nayib Bukele is a close Trump ally.
- There鈥檚 no evidence of Van Hollen day-drinking using taxpayer funds in either the El Salvador or the Lobby Bar incident.
Patel on X soon from Van Hollen鈥檚 campaign finance reports showing a $7,128 bill from December 2025 at the Lobby Bar. But the bill was for general 鈥渃atering,鈥� which can mean food as well as alcohol, and Van Hollen said Tuesday that it was for a staff holiday party.
And regardless of what the money was spent on, it wasn鈥檛 鈥渙n the taxpayer dime鈥�; It was campaign money.
(Lawmakers commonly host fundraising or staff events at restaurants or bars that can rack up large tabs and charge it to the campaign. That might be problematic, but not for the reasons Patel suggested.)
Even if Patel鈥檚 鈥渢axpayer dime鈥� reference was to the Abrego Garcia meeting rather than the campaign event, there is no evidence Van Hollen drank what was placed in front of him in El Salvador. In fact, he said back then, 鈥�.鈥�
Van Hollen at the hearing accused Patel of spreading an 鈥渦rban legend in right-wing media.鈥�
These are the kinds of facts the administration , as they鈥檝e sought to argue Abrego Garcia is a bad guy and that Democrats were too anxious to defend an undocumented immigrant. They鈥檝e repeatedly suggested it was proven that Abrego Garcia was in a gang and had committed non-immigration crimes, even though it still hasn鈥檛 been.
(Abrego Garcia has been indicted for alleged human trafficking, but he hasn鈥檛 even been charged with alleged rape.)
But Patel isn鈥檛 just any administration official in this context. He鈥檚 the FBI director, and he鈥檚 testifying to Congress under penalty of perjury. But he鈥檚 saying things that could logically be understood to impugn others 鈥� both Abrego Garcia and Van Hollen.
All of which is , which state that officials aren鈥檛 supposed to make false statements about people or prejudge someone鈥檚 guilt.
(Bondi, too, has quite arguably violated these standards. When Abrego Garcia was indicted in June, she in a press conference cited claims Abrego Garcia had committed other .)
And it鈥檚 pretty evident that Patel didn鈥檛 just trip over his words in labeling Abrego Garcia a 鈥渃onvicted gangbanging rapist.鈥� Later in his testimony, he again cited Van Hollen supposedly 鈥渄rinking margaritas with felons,鈥� even though Abrego Garcia, again, has not been convicted of a felony.
In a typical administration, testimony like this would lead to questions about Patel correcting the record and withdrawing his claims. Even shy of Patel fearing criminal prosecution, Republicans might insist on it to assert Congress鈥� role in overseeing the executive branch.
But nobody has any illusions about any kind of accountability for Patel. And the GOP-controlled Congress seemingly gave up on protecting its prerogatives and status as a powerful, separate branch of government when Trump was inaugurated a second time.
Indeed, Patel isn鈥檛 even the only top administration official to make false statements in congressional testimony over the past week.
last Wednesday and Thursday, when he claimed that the Biden administration had sent the military to polling places in 15 states in 2024.
The government鈥檚 revered system of checks and balances has apparently broken down so much now that officials can say whatever they want in testimony, as long as it鈥檚 combative and pleases Trump.
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