WASHINGTON, April 20 -- Sen. Dick Durbin issued the following press release:
In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called for Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel to be replaced after The Atlantic published (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/04/kash-patel-fbi-director-drinking-absences/686839/) an article outlining his excessive drinking and unexplained absences.
Durbin began by characterizing Patel's tenure, saying: "When Kash Patel was confirmed, I said that he had neither the experience, judgment, nor temperament to lead the FBI. Fourteen months later, Director Patel has confirmed my worst fears about his integrity ...