Kash Patel: hiring-standards change protects "victims of bestiality, victims who were trafficked"
Kash PatelFBI Director
Kash Patel defended the FBI’s hiring-standards change as intended to protect trafficking and abuse victims from automatic disqualification.
Responding to
The FBI’s hiring-standards change was designed to protect trafficking and sexual-abuse victims from automatic disqualification, and does not admit applicants who voluntarily engaged in the disqualifying conduct.
“We did not want to punish victims of bestiality, victims who were trafficked... Applicants who have engaged in bestiality means they were victims of bestiality because they were forced to do so.”
Reporting
Reporting
Reporting
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
Reporting
About this source
Fullest account of the Sen. John Kennedy–Patel exchange at the hearing.
Reporting
About this source
Clearest account of the Durbin/Patel disagreement over whether the "victims" framing accurately describes the policy, and the fullest quoted FBI spokesperson statement.
Reporting
About this source
Same-day broadcast transcript containing verbatim video-clip transcriptions of the hearing exchange plus a full on-air interview with Andrew McCabe. Marked by CNN as a rush transcript that "may not be in its final form."
Before the quotation
Questioned by Sens. Durbin and Kennedy at the September 15, 2026 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about the FBI’s removal of automatic hiring disqualifiers for prostitution, employee theft, and bestiality.
After the quotation
Sen. Durbin directly disputed this framing in the same exchange (see related statement).
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Patel directly argues the policy change is justified: it exists to avoid punishing trafficking and abuse victims, not to permit voluntary misconduct, an express defense of the conduct under scrutiny (the policy change).
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More from this case
Read the full caseFBI National Press Office: applicants who engaged in criminal sexual acts remain ineligible
Federal Bureau of Investigation
“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.”Read statement
Maureen 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
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- Kash Patel: hiring-standards change protects "victims of bestiality, victims who were trafficked"
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The Dispute Index. "Kash Patel: hiring-standards change protects "victims of bestiality, victims who were trafficked"". First published: 2026-09-16. Last updated: 2026-09-16. https://disputeindex.com/events/715-kash-patel-defended-the-fbi-s-hiring-standards