FBI director insists new hiring standards on prostitution and bestiality were only meant to assist sexual assault victims

Updated on: September 15, 2026 / 4:00 PM EDT / CBS News

FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday defended his agency's decision to lower its hiring standards, after he faced a barrage of questions from incredulous lawmakers who demanded to know why engaging in acts of bestiality is no longer an automatic disqualifier for employment.

In a series of extraordinary exchanges with both Democratic and Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patel insisted that several changes were made to ensure that victims of sexual assault or trafficking involving animals were not precluded from employment at the FBI.

"We did not want to punish victims of bestiality, victims who were trafficked," Patel told Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin during an oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"We did not want to make it an automatic disqualification for the FBI to consider you if you are a victim of these awful, heinous acts. They still have to go through the same rigorous standards and application process," Patel added.

Tuesday's hearing marked the first time that Patel has publicly addressed the new hiring standards related to prostitution, employment theft and bestiality, after CBS News first reported about them in August.

Previously, anyone…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/