There are hardly enough hours in the day to unpack all the false statements made by Trump administration officials, but FBI Director Kash Patel apparently decided to use his Senate testimony on Tuesday to make that job even harder. During a heated exchange, Patel claimed Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen has a documented drinking problem - a lie so egregious it deserves its own filing cabinet.
When Van Hollen asked about reports that Patel's own drinking had interfered with his job performance, Patel responded by shouting a clearly prepared series of false allegations. He claimed the senator had been caught on camera drinking "margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar" - a reference to photos Van Hollen has credibly described as a hoax staged by an aide to El Salvador's far-right president, Nayib Bukele. Patel then alleged that documents showed Van Hollen "ran up a $7,000 bar tab in Washington DC at the Lobby Bar."
"The only individual in this room that has been drinking on taxpayer dime during the day is you," Patel shouted, jabbing a finger at Van Hollen. "You drink during the day, that's you."
A Van Hollen spokesperson explained that the $7,128 payment to the Lobby Bar on 12 December 2025 was actually "a catering charge at a local restaurant where the Senator hosted an after-hours holiday reception as a thank you to the 50+ members of our team, paid for by campaign funds - not taxpayer dollars." The Lobby Bar, it turns out, also offers a full dinner menu - a detail Patel apparently missed while preparing his "fact check."
After the hearing, Patel posted a screenshot of the payment from Van Hollen's FEC report on his official government X account, describing it as a "Fact check." He failed to note, as many readers did, that the form clearly describes the expense as "Catering for Event" and a campaign expenditure. Van Hollen replied: "You got me, I catered a holiday reception for my staff with campaign - not taxpayer - dollars! Now let's see your receipts. #ReleaseTheTab"
Polls have closed across Nebraska, where the fate of the state's "blue dot" - a small but significant factor in presidential politics - took center stage Tuesday as Democrats selected a congressional nominee in the state's high-profile 2nd District. State senator John Cavanaugh and political activist Denise Powell were top contenders in the Democratic primary, as their party looks to the Omaha-area district, where Republican congressman Don Bacon is retiring, as a top target in the November general election. The winner will face Republican Brinkner Harding, who ran unopposed in the GOP primary and is endorsed by President Donald Trump. The district draws national attention because Nebraska is one of just two states that splits its electoral votes in presidential elections; the 2nd District has gone to Democratic presidential candidates three out of five times since 2008 - a "blue dot" in an otherwise sea of red.
En route to Beijing, Donald Trump and his aides whiled away the hours on Air Force One by creating and posting memes about the more successful of the two wars they launched this year: the attack on Venezuela. Over four hours into the flight, after deriding reporters who accurately describe Iran's success in seizing control of the Strait of Hormuz as "American cowards," the president posted a map of Venezuela covered in the American flag with the words "51st State." The White House then posted a video combining an in-flight photo of Secretary of State Marco Rubio wearing a grey Nike Tech tracksuit - the same one that sold out after images of ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro wearing it after his capture went viral - with a sample from the Notorious BIG's "Hypnotize," slightly edited to omit a version of the n-word.
Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state who defied intense pressure from Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 election results in his state, received a "credible threat on his life" this week before a bomb scare disrupted a campaign event on Tuesday. Raffensperger, a candidate in next week's Republican primary for governor, faced what he called an "active threat" during a campaign event in Macon. A "suspicious object" was found inside a vending machine at the venue by a bomb disposal crew from the Bibb County Sheriff's Office. His campaign spokesman told the New York Times it received a four-page, handwritten "manifesto" threatening the official's life on Monday, including a photo of Raffensperger with the word "Boom" written across his forehead. Polling suggests Raffensperger is running a distant third in the GOP primary, behind Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, endorsed by Trump, and billionaire health care executive Rick Jackson, who donated $1m to Trump's political operation.
As he left the White House for his flight to China, Trump took a moment to insult a Black reporter, Akayla Gardner, for asking why he was concerned about cost overruns in the Federal Reserve renovation overseen by his nemesis Jerome Powell, but not about the ballooning cost of two projects he oversees: the White House ballroom and the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. Trump initially said the ballroom, built after demolishing the East Wing, would cost $200m and be paid for by donors; he now describes it as a $400m project with at least $220m in taxpayer funds. When Gardner noted the price had doubled, Trump leaned down and said, "You are not a smart person." This is part of a pattern: in November, Trump told Bloomberg's Catherine Lucey, "Quiet, quiet, piggy," when she asked about Jeffrey Epstein files; in December, he called ABC's Rachel Scott "the most obnoxious reporter"; and in February, he scolded CNN's Kaitlan Collins for not smiling while asking about Epstein's victims.