House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) was detained at Dulles International Airport in DC on November 4 and charged with being drunk in public.
McCaul said he made a mistake by taking Ambien and drinking several alcoholic drinks before his flight.
According to reports, police approached McCaul to help him after he appeared disoriented.
McCaul missed his flight and accidentally locked himself out of his phone while he was trying to rebook his flight.
“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.
“Law enforcement officers briefly detained me while I waited for a family member to pick me up. I have 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.”
NBC News reported:
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.
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.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority Police said that McCaul was charged with being drunk in public around 9 p.m. on Nov. 4 and released to a driver who picked him up.
