The Scoop
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul was detained by police at Dulles International Airport earlier this month in an incident that he described as “the result of a poor decision” to mix Ambien and alcohol.
A McCaul spokesperson confirmed the recent incident, describing the congressman as “a nervous flyer” who took the popular sleep aid Ambien and consumed alcohol before boarding a flight home to Texas.
McCaul ultimately missed that flight, he told Semafor, adding that he was disoriented from the combination of the medication and alcohol, subsequently locking himself out of his cell phone.
He was later found by police, who assumed McCaul was intoxicated and detained him, according to his spokesperson.
“Two weekends ago, I made a mistake — one for which I take full responsibility,” McCaul said in a statement to Semafor. “I missed a flight to Texas and found myself disoriented in the airport. This was the result of a poor decision I made to mix an Ambien — which I took in order to sleep on the upcoming flight — with some alcohol. Law enforcement officers briefly detained me while I waited for a family member to pick me up.”
McCaul added that he has “nothing but respect and gratitude for the officers who intercepted me that evening. This incident does not reflect who I am and who I strive to be. As a human, I am not perfect. But I am determined to learn from this mistake and, God-willing, make myself a better person.”
He is term-limited at the helm of the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee and would require a waiver from Republican leaders to continue in that role next year, when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.