Kelly defends Patel: "He's protecting those who are victims"
Megyn KellyHost, The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly defended Kash Patel's testimony on the FBI hiring-standards change, saying he is "protecting those who are victims" and that critics had "turned it upside down."
“He's protecting those who are victims. They just turned it upside down.”
Analysis
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
Analysis
About this source
Megyn Kelly's AM Update segment covering Kash Patel's September 15, 2026 Senate hearing on the FBI hiring-standards change.
Before the quotation
Covering Kash Patel's September 15, 2026 Senate hearing on her AM Update segment.
After the quotation
The segment went on to play the Kennedy-style exchange about involuntary participation without Kelly undercutting Patel's framing.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Kelly explicitly frames the hiring-policy change as protecting trafficking victims and accuses critics of inverting the story, a direct defense of Patel's testimony and the underlying policy.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Kash Patel
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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The Dispute Index. "Kelly defends Patel: "He's protecting those who are victims"". First published: 2026-09-17. Last updated: 2026-09-17. https://disputeindex.com/events/858-megyn-kelly-defended-kash-patel-s-testimony-on