Co-founder and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Case
FBI Director Kash Patel defended the bureau's removal of automatic hiring disqualifiers for prostitution, employee theft, and bestiality, saying it protects trafficking victims. Sen. Dick Durbin and former FBI official Andrew McCabe publicly disputed that framing.
Role at the time: Co-founder and president, PETA
Statement summary
PETA president Ingrid Newkirk condemned the FBI hiring-standards change and called on Patel to reverse it.
“Director Patel must immediately cancel this abominable misstep. It cannot happen... No one in America supports humans having sex with animals, and to think an FBI agent might be such a cruel pervert is unconscionable and unacceptable.”
Newkirk directly and sharply condemns the policy and calls for Patel to reverse it, an express institutional condemnation on PETAs behalf.
Statement dates: September 16, 2026
