FBI Director Kash Patel was arrested twice in his youth in incidents involving alcohol, according to a newly reported letter he wrote in 2005 while applying for admission to the Florida Bar.
The letter, obtained from Patel’s personnel file at the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office, reportedly detailed two separate arrests: one for public intoxication and another for public urination after a night of drinking.
The disclosures are receiving new attention as Patel continues denying recent allegations that alcohol use has affected his leadership of the FBI.
According to the report, one incident took place in 2005 while Patel was a law student at Pace University.
Patel wrote that he and his friends visited local bars and consumed alcoholic drinks before walking home.
He said the group made what he described as a poor decision.
“In a gross deviation from appropriate conduct, we attempted to relieve our bladders while walking home,” Patel wrote.
Before doing so, a police cruiser stopped the group and they were arrested for public urination. Patel said he later paid a fine.
The second incident reportedly occurred in 2001 while Patel was a student at the University of Richmond.
Patel wrote that he attended a basketball game as part of the Richmond Rowdies student fan group and had consumed two drinks while underage.
He said he was escorted out of the arena because of excessive cheering.
After leaving the arena, he was arrested for public intoxication because he was under 21 years old.
NBC News previously reported that Patel was found guilty of a misdemeanor charge days after that incident.
In the 2005 letter, Patel apologized and said both matters were not representative of his usual behavior, per The Intercept.
“Both of these incidents are not representative of my usual conduct,” he wrote, adding that he hoped the board would view them as anomalies.
Patel eventually joined the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office after being admitted to the Florida Bar.
A spokesperson for Patel, Erica Knight, defended him in response to the report.
She said Patel’s background had been thoroughly examined before taking office and called the renewed focus an attempt to distract from what she described as the FBI’s success under his leadership.
The story arrives during a broader controversy over Patel’s conduct.
Recent reports from The Atlantic alleged Patel’s drinking had become a recurring concern in government circles and described incidents at private clubs in Washington and Las Vegas.
Patel has strongly denied those claims and filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit.
He recently said he has never been intoxicated on the job and challenged critics publicly.
The newly surfaced arrests are from more than two decades ago and do not allege misconduct while serving in office.
Still, because Patel now leads the nation’s top law enforcement agency, past behavior involving arrests and alcohol is certain to draw scrutiny.
