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FBI Director Kash<\/span> Patel was twice arrested in incidents involving alcohol, once for public intoxication and once for public urination after leaving a bar, he admitted in a 2005 letter about disclosures on his Florida Bar application.<\/p>\n The letter obtained by The Intercept was part of Patel\u2019s personnel file at the Miami-Dade Public Defender\u2019s Office, where he once worked. The document, written \u201cper instructions of my employer,\u201d describes incidents of alcohol-related indiscretions not uncommon for those in their teens and twenties.<\/p>\n Two decades later, as Patel pushes back against allegations that drinking is impairing his leadership of the nation\u2019s top law enforcement agency, these arrests show how Patel\u2019s alcohol use has been subjected to scrutiny before in his professional life.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a gross deviation from appropriate conduct, we attempted to relieve our bladders while walking home.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n One incident recounted by Patel occurred in 2005, about four months before he wrote the letter. At the time, he was a law student at Pace University in New York celebrating with friends.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went to a few of the local bars and consumed some alcoholic drinks,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n When they walked home, they made a bad decision.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a gross deviation from appropriate conduct, we attempted to relieve our bladders while walking home,\u201d Patel said in the letter. \u201cBefore we could even do so, a police cruiser stopped the group. We were then arrested for public urination.\u201d<\/p>\n Patel paid a fine after the incident, he wrote in the letter.<\/p>\n \u201cKash\u2019s entire background was thoroughly examined and vetted prior to him assuming this role,\u201d said Erica Knight, a spokesperson for Patel. \u201cThese attacks are nothing more than an attempt to undermine a process that has already deemed him suitable to serve and a distraction to the record-breaking success of the FBI under Director Patel.\u201d<\/p>\n During an earlier incident in 2001, Patel wrote that he was arrested for public intoxication for drinking underage as a college student at the University of Richmond in Virginia. Patel helped run the Richmond Rowdies, a student fan group, and attended a home basketball game to help lead cheers. In his letter, Patel wrote that he was escorted out of the arena by a school officer due to excessive cheering.<\/p>\n \u201cUpon exiting the arena,\u201d he wrote, \u201cthe officer placed me under arrest for public intoxication, as I was not yet of 21 years of age.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Patel said in his letter that he\u2019d had two drinks and paid a fine following the arrest. According to NBC News<\/a>, which previously reported his 2001 public intoxication arrest, Patel was found guilty on a misdemeanor charge days after the incident.<\/p>\n Patel\u2019s letter about the Florida Bar disclosures has not previously been reported. The Intercept obtained Patel\u2019s personnel file through a public records request to the Miami-Dade Public Defender\u2019s Office, where Patel was hired on a $40,000 salary after being admitted to the Florida Bar.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth of these incidents are not representative of my usual conduct of behavior,\u201d he wrote to conclude the letter, \u201cand it is my hope that the Board views them as an anomaly. I dually apologize for my improper behavior both to the Board and the community at large.\u201d<\/p>\n Twenty years after writing the letter, Patel became the ninth director of the FBI. His tenure has been marked by controversies, including over the firing of agents who worked on investigations of President Donald Trump<\/a>, the use of his government jet<\/a>, and lawsuits<\/a> filed by his girlfriend<\/a>, Alexis Wilkins, over false claims that she is a former Mossad agent.<\/p>\n More recent concerns about Patel\u2019s drinking followed the release of a viral video<\/a> in February of the FBI director chugging a beer with the U.S. Olympic hockey team in Italy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
Patel Drinking Allegations<\/strong><\/h2>\n