Dick Durbin: the policy drops disqualification for "applicants who have engaged," not victims
Dick DurbinU.S. Senator (D-IL); Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee
Sen. Dick Durbin told Patel directly that the FBI’s policy removes disqualification for applicants who engaged in the conduct, not only for its victims, disputing Patel’s framing.
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.
“You dropped automatic disqualification for applicants who have been engaged in bestiality, not victims of bestiality – applicants who have engaged.”
Reporting
Reporting
Other statements by Dick Durbin in this case
Every statement by Dick Durbin
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
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
Questioning Patel at the September 15, 2026 hearing about the FBI’s hiring-standards change.
After the quotation
Patel responded by asserting that applicants who engaged in bestiality were themselves victims "because they were forced to do so," a claim Durbin’s framing rejects.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Durbin directly rejects Patel’s characterization of the policy on its face, stating the rule removes disqualification for people who "have engaged" in the conduct, not only victims, an express criticism of both the policy and Patel’s defense of it.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Kash Patel, Federal Bureau of Investigation
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The Dispute Index. "Dick Durbin: the policy drops disqualification for "applicants who have engaged," not victims". First published: 2026-09-16. Last updated: 2026-09-16. https://disputeindex.com/events/716-sen-dick-durbin-told-patel-directly-that-the