FBI National Press Office: applicants who engaged in criminal sexual acts remain ineligible
Federal Bureau of InvestigationFBI National Press Office
In an emailed statement to us, the FBI National Press Office said the bureau is not relaxing hiring standards, described the change as allowing 'whole of person' consideration for applicants such as past sexual-abuse victims flagged by unrelated background-check issues through no fault of their own, and said any applicant who personally engaged in criminal sexual acts like bestiality would remain ineligible for employment.
Responding to
The FBI’s hiring-standards change removes automatic disqualification for applicants who themselves engaged in the disqualifying conduct, not only for victims of it, contrary to Patel’s "victims" framing.
“We are not 'relaxing hiring standards' - that is totally false... any applicant who has engaged in criminal sexual acts like those referenced would of course not be eligible for employment, and it is ridiculous to suggest otherwise.”
Official statement
Where this statement fits
Kash Patel defends FBI’s removal of automatic hiring disqualifiers for bestiality, prostitution, and employee theft
The FBI changed its hiring standards in 2026 to remove automatic disqualification of job applicants over past prostitution, employee theft, or bestiality/animal-cruelty history, first reported by CBS News on August 28, 2026. At a September 15, 2026 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, FBI Director Kash Patel defended the change as intended to protect trafficking and abuse victims from disqualification, saying "we did not want to punish victims of bestiality, victims who were trafficked." Sen. Dick Durbin disputed that framing, saying the rule as written removes disqualification for "applicants who have engaged" in the conduct, not specifically victims. Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe publicly called Patel’s rationale "not entirely believable."
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
Emailed reply from the FBI National Press Office to us about the bureau's hiring-standards change. The office said the bureau maintains its highest suitability standards, described the policy as 'whole of person' consideration for applicants such as past sexual-abuse victims flagged by unrelated background-check issues through no fault of their own, and said any applicant who personally engaged in criminal sexual acts like bestiality or prostitution would remain ineligible for employment. The statement was expressly attributed to the FBI. The link goes to the FBI's press-release page because we could not find this statement posted online; the FBI sent it to us by email.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
The FBI's press office made a similar 'not relaxing hiring standards' statement to CBS News around the original August 28, 2026 report (recorded separately). We asked the FBI on September 25, 2026 to confirm or correct its position, and its National Press Office replied by email that day.
After the quotation
As of this statement, no outlet had independently reported whether any applicant who engaged in the disqualifying conduct, rather than merely being investigated for it, had actually been hired under the revised standard.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The FBI directly denies that its policy change lowers hiring standards and states that applicants who themselves engaged in disqualifying criminal sexual conduct remain ineligible for employment, defending the policy against the case-level claim that it removes disqualification for perpetrators and not only victims.
- Recorded on
- Published here
More from this case
Read the full caseMaureen Steele accepts the trafficking-victim rationale but says the FBI wrote it too broadly: "Victims deserve mercy. Federal power demands character."
“Victims deserve mercy. Federal power demands character.”Read statement
Wallace calls Patel's testimony "unbelievable," evidence of institutional decline
“unbelievable... just how far the FBI has fallen under the direction and leadership”Read statement
Josh Johnson mocks Patel's hearing answers: "these are the standards you're lowering?"
“You know things have gone off the rails when someone has to ask, what about the bestiality? … We are witnessing history here. This may be the first time ever someone's response to "what's up with the bestiality" is "thank you for bringing that up." … Like, these are the standards you're lowering? Maybe the new standard should be only needs to do 20 push-ups and not can't go to a petting zoo wearing gym shorts.”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- FBI National Press Office: applicants who engaged in criminal sexual acts remain ineligible
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/2585-in-an-emailed-statement-to-us-the-fbi
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "FBI National Press Office: applicants who engaged in criminal sexual acts remain ineligible". First published: 2026-09-25. Last updated: 2026-09-26. https://disputeindex.com/events/2585-in-an-emailed-statement-to-us-the-fbi