Patel’s own legal problems — a 2001 underage public intoxication arrest in Richmond, Virginia, and a 2020 reckless driving charge that was reduced in Arlington — complicate his case to senators as he seeks to become the country’s top cop amid concerns he will not be independent from President Donald Trump and prosecute the president’s perceived enemies and members of the so-called deep state.

Patel was not required to respond to the charges in a questionnaire he provided to the Judiciary Committee before Thursday’s hearing, according to a copy of that document obtained by the Washington Examiner.

But court documents demonstrate how Patel, a former Justice Department prosecutor, was fined $200 and legal fees after he was caught driving at least 20 mph more than the speed limit in 2019 before pleading guilty to a reduced sentence in 2020.

A spokeswoman for Patel, the former chief of staff to acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and a senior adviser to acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, did not return the Washington Examiner’s request for comment. Other Republicans have stridently defended Patel, citing the problematic pasts of the likes of the late Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy and the deadly 1969 Chappaquiddick incident as a comparison.

“Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending justice, and protecting the American people,” Trump wrote in his statement nominating Patel. “This FBI will end the growing crime epidemic in America, dismantle the migrant criminal gangs, and stop the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking across the border.”

In a separate statement after meeting Patel, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) argued he understands “transparency brings accountability, and it’s badly needed at the FBI.”

Republicans, such as Senate Judiciary Committee member Thom Tillis (R-NC), told the Washington Examiner he was “absolutely” aware of Patel’s 2001 underage drinking arrest, made four days before his 21st birthday, but it had not changed his mind.

“I have yet to see anybody produce that,” Tillis said. “I am aware of something when he was younger, where he may have been underage drinking. But tell people to bring the facts, right?”

In addition to his run-ins with the law, Patel’s public statements portray a University of Richmond and Pace University-educated lawyer whose skills have been criticized by himself, even if he was being self-deprecating, and judges, though FBI directors do not need to be attorneys, nor good ones.

“I got bad grades in law school,” Patel wrote in his 2023 book Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy. “I spent years as an unknown public defender. Yet for some unplanned reason, I ended up being the lead investigator who uncovered the greatest political scandal in American history — and for seven years now, I have been on the front line in every single major battle that the Deep State has waged against the American system of self-government.”

Patel first attracted Trump’s praise while working as a senior counsel on the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee‘s inquiry into the FBI’s investigation of alleged Trump-Russia collusion — what Patel details in his book as the greatest scandal. Patel crafted an infamous four-page memo in 2018 exposing flaws in the FBI’s warrant applications to surveil former Trump aide Carter Page for the bureau’s investigation, and Trump and his allies used the memo to undermine the FBI’s entire investigation.

Patel has been loyal to Trump in the years since, and while Senate Republicans have warmed up to him, his nomination has not been without controversy.

His brash and outspoken nature is underscored by the more than 1,000 interviews he has done with media in the last five years on mostly right-wing outlets, according to his Senate questionnaire. Democrats have vehemently opposed Patel’s nomination, pointing to conspiracies he has amplified during some of those interviews, including QAnon and the claim that the FBI planned the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) has deemed Patel unqualified to be FBI director.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), another Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, told the Washington Examiner his party is also “aware of some of the charges.”

“We are looking into them and possibly others,” he said. “Any criminal charges are certainly relevant. I don’t know that they are alone disqualifying but here’s the bottom line, even without any criminal charges, he is plainly unqualified and unprepared for this awesomely important role. And I think the criminal charges may simply be additive.”

Former Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler agreed Patel’s two charges “add additional layers to already existing concerns regarding his leadership credentials and character that will need to be addressed.”

Attorney general nominee Pam Bondi was grilled about Patel during her confirmation hearing this month, and she countered by citing Patel’s depth of experience as a trial lawyer. But Patel has not always spoken highly of his own career in court.

During a 2021 episode with the Drinkin’ Bros podcast about Fight With Kash, his free speech legal offense fund, Patel described himself as a “recovering lawyer” and conceded he is “not good at that crap.”

“I got smart guys that I met along the way that will look at that for free,” he said. “They’ll be like, I think you got a case against Twitter, Facebook, the [New York] Times, small media publication, whatever, and then I’ll cut the check out of Fight With Kash for their legal fees.”

Trump attorney Jonathan Shaw used the same phrase when questioning Patel as a friendly witness in 2023 during the Colorado federal district court trial regarding whether the president should be on the 2024 ballot as a candidate, despite allegations he participated in an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

“I have not practiced law in maybe close to a decade,” Patel said at the time.

Judge Susan Wallace ordered Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold to keep Trump on the state’s ballot and found Patel was “not a credible witness.”

“His testimony regarding Trump authorizing 10,000-20,000 National Guardsmen is not only illogical (because Trump only had authority over about 2,000 National Guardsmen) but completely devoid of any evidence in the record,” Wallace wrote. “Further, his testimony regarding the [Jan. 6] Committee refusing to release his deposition and refusing his request to speak at a public hearing was refuted by [Jan. 6 Committee chief investigative counsel Tim] Heaphy who was a far more credible witness.”

Wallace added that she “did not give any weight to Mr. Patel’s testimony other than as evidence that the [Jan. 6] Select Committee interviewed many of Trump’s supporters as part of its extensive investigation.”

Patel has similarly remained in the public eye, in part, by waging lawsuits against the media that have landed favorably with Trump’s base but fallen flat in the courtroom.

He unsuccessfully brought defamation suits against Politico for $25 million and the New York Times for $44 million in 2019, according to Virginia court records. In his complaints, Patel called Politico “weaponized media” and accused the New York Times of making false accusations about his interactions with Trump. 

A year later, the same records show Patel filed a $50 million lawsuit against CNN, saying it published false statements and promoted “Democratic Party political operations.” A judge dismissed the suit, but Patel is appealing the decision.

In a 2023 defamation case Patel brought against Jim Stewartson, co-host of the Radicalized Pod, Nevada District Court Judge Andrew Gordon chastised Patel’s filings, contending his certificate of interested parties “did not comply” civil procedure rules. 

“I urge plaintiffs’ counsel to read the rule carefully, as it was amended six months ago,” Gordon wrote in his order.

Patel will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Senate Democrats are likely to press him on a spectrum of issues, from what critics have condemned as an “enemies list” of Patel’s opponents, his scrutiny of the agency he hopes to lead, and speculation that he violated protocols during an attempted hostage rescue mission in 2020. 

So far, the majority of Republicans on the committee have either endorsed Patel or indicated they are inclined to support his nomination. Patel can lose three Republican votes in the Senate.