Patrick Kennedy: I Wasn't Drinking

Congressman Says He Took Ambien And Was Disoriented Before Auto Accident

(CBS/AP)  Patrick Kennedy says his car – which has a broken headlight and is somewhat banged up - was the only one involved in the accident.

As reporters staked out Kennedy's office late Thursday, hoping for more answers, the congressman's chief of staff, Sean Richardson, emerged and made a point of saying that while Capitol Hill police were ready to kick out the reporters, Kennedy's office called off the cops, telling them the media was welcome to stay.

The statement mentioning Phenergan and Ambien was issued a short time later.

The report that Kennedy appeared to be intoxicated at the time of the crash came from Louis P. Cannon, president of the Washington chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, who wasn't there but says officers at the scene were instructed by an official "above the rank of patrolman" to take Kennedy home.

A letter written by Capitol Police officer Greg Baird to Acting Chief Christopher McGaffin said Kennedy appeared to be staggering when he left the vehicle after the crash about 3 a.m. The letter was first reported by Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper.

Capitol Police, who are investigating the incident, were at first circumspect and said nothing about Kennedy, stating only that they were investigating an early morning traffic violation.

Baird wrote McGaffin that two sergeants who responded to the accident conferred with the watch commander and were ordered to leave the scene.

He said that after the officers left, Capitol Police officials gave Kennedy a ride home.

Cannon says police, depending on the cirumstances do sometime take people to their homes but he believes "because of who he is, courtesies were extended... It it had been you or me, we would have left in handcuffs."

Kennedy spent time at a drug rehabilitation clinic before he went to Providence College. He has been open about mental health issues, including being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

He has served in Congress since 1994, and was the youngest member of his family – the best-known of America's political dynasties – to win elective office, beginning his legislative career at age 21 in the Rhode Island Assembly.