House Foreign Affairs Chair Detained At Airport

Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX), the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, was briefly detained at Dulles International Airport.

Police detained McCaul at the airport after he appeared to be drunk and needed assistance.

McCaul was never arrested; however, police allowed him to call a family member to pick him up.

A spokesperson for McCaul confirmed that McCaul took an Ambien sleeping pill and consumed a couple of alcoholic drinks, which led to the officer’s suspicions.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) was charged with being drunk in public at the Dulles International Airport, according to a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. https://t.co/SgxJGLwvBh

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 14, 2024

BREAKING: GOP Rep. Michael McCaul 'briefly detained' by police at airport for 'appearing intoxicated' https://t.co/FbARuU2gnS

— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 13, 2024

Per NBC News:

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was briefly detained after an interaction with police at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., a spokesperson for the congressman told NBC News.

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The spokesperson said that McCaul was not arrested and was not threatening to anyone, but police approached him because he appeared to be drunk and needed help. McCaul was then able to phone a family member to pick him up from the airport to bring him back to Washington.

According to the spokesperson, McCaul, who is a nervous flyer, took the drug Ambien to help him sleep on a flight back home to Texas and inadvertently missed his flight.

While he was working to rebook his flight, the Ambien, which he had mixed with several alcoholic drinks, made him disoriented and he locked himself out of his phone, the spokesperson said.

That led to his encounter with police, who initially thought he was just drunk and detained him. After McCaul explained the situation the police helped him to use one of their phones to call a family member who picked him up from the airport. The spokesperson said McCaul was respectful of police throughout the encounter.

“Two weekends ago, I made a mistake — one for which I take full responsibility. 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,” McCaul said in a statement to NBC News.

Rep. Michael McCaul says he was detained at Dulles airport over being 'disoriented' https://t.co/UPzEYYNavF

— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) November 14, 2024

Per The Washington Post:

Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was detained by police at an airport near Washington, D.C. earlier this month.

McCaul said he became “disoriented” at Dulles International Airport after he took medication and drank alcohol before his scheduled flight back home to Texas.

“Two weekends ago, I made a mistake-one for which I take full responsibility. 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,” McCaul said in a statement.

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