Andrew McCabe calls Patel’s rationale "not entirely believable"
Andrew McCabeFormer FBI Deputy Director; CNN senior law enforcement analyst
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said on CNN that Patel’s victim-protection rationale for the hiring-standards change was not credible.
“In 21 years in the FBI, this issue never came up... the fact that the director is using this as a way to kind of soften the blow... is not entirely believable in my estimation. The idea that the FBI director would put his own credibility and judgment on the line over something as esoteric and irrelevant as protecting victims of bestiality who might happen to want to work for the FBI is really unconscionable to me.”
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
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
Speaking on CNN’s Inside Politics the same day as the hearing, as a former FBI Deputy Director and CNN senior law enforcement analyst.
After the quotation
McCabe added that this kind of self-inflicted controversy is "not something that past FBI directors want to encourage."
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
McCabe directly denounces Patel’s rationale as not credible and the episode as "unconscionable," an express criticism of Patel’s defense of the policy.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Kash Patel, Federal Bureau of Investigation
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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- Andrew McCabe calls Patel’s rationale "not entirely believable"
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The Dispute Index. "Andrew McCabe calls Patel’s rationale "not entirely believable"". First published: 2026-09-16. Last updated: 2026-09-16. https://disputeindex.com/events/718-former-fbi-deputy-director-andrew-mccabe-said-on