Patrick Kennedy: Depends on what the meaning of "drinking" is.

Residents and visitors to Capitol Hill are familiar with the venerable Hawk and Dove Irish Bar on Pennsylvania Avenue. On my few visits to that establishment, I made sure to avoid the Dove side. Wouldn't want to get trampled by a Kennedy.

BostonHerald.com : "WASHINGTON -U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy insisted yesterday that he had consumed "no alcohol" before he slammed his Mustang convertible into a concrete barrier near his office, but a hostess at a popular Capitol Hill watering hole told the Herald she saw him drinking in the hours before the crash.

"He was drinking a little bit," said the woman, who works at the Hawk & Dove and would not give her name.

Leaving his office late last night, Kennedy refused to say whether he'd been to the Hawk & Dove the night before.

Earlier in the evening, Kennedy issued a statement through his office blaming the accident and strange behavior surrounding it on prescription drugs.
Continuing adventures of Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy

Official comment

Keep the Herald's Continuing Adventures link on file. Especially interesting is this tidbit from March 2000:

A videotape captures Kennedy pushing a 58-year-old airport security guard backward and bumping the metal detector archway at Los Angeles International Airport. The catalyst apparently was that his luggage was too big for carry-on and he was disturbed the guard did not recognize him.

Patrick Kennedy: The Cynthia McKinney of New England.