FBI chief Kash Patel defends hiring policy change on prostitution, bestiality

Under the new FBI rules, people who admitted to certain crimes, including prostitution and bestiality, won’t be automatically disqualified from joining the agency.

New Delhi: FBI Director Kash Patel faced questions from senators Tuesday after the bureau excluded bestiality as an automatic disqualifier for employment at the agency. The rule change means that a past history involving bestiality is no longer a rigid, automatic “deal-breaker” that throws an application out instantly.

The change drew disbelief from both Republican and Democratic senators. Patel said the new rule was meant to protect victims of human trafficking who had been forced into sexual acts with animals.

Under the FBI’s earlier rules, people who admitted to certain crimes, including prostitution and bestiality, were automatically disqualified from joining the agency. Under the new rules, these acts will no longer automatically disqualify an applicant.

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patel said the change was made because the FBI “did not want to punish victims of bestiality, victims who were trafficked.”

“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,” he said.

Republican Senator John Kennedy questioned Patel about the decision.

“Why would you even get into bestiality?” Kennedy asked.

“We are not into bestiality,” Patel replied.

Kennedy then pressed him on whether the new rules meant someone who had had sex with an animal could still become an FBI agent.

“No,” Patel said.

Patel explained that some trafficking victims had been forced to engage in such acts and were previously disqualified from FBI jobs because of it.