FBI Director Kash Patel was repeatedly forced to clarify during a Senate hearing whether the nation’s top law enforcement agency was employing people who committed acts of bestiality, quickly derailing hotly anticipated testimony under an avalanche of criticism and controversy.
Patel faced pointed questions from both Democratic and Republican members on the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday about the apparent staffing crisis at the bureau, including from GOP Sen. John Kennedy, who explicitly asked, “You’re not telling us today that if a human being had sex with an animal, that they can still be an FBI agent?”
No, Patel said. He argued that newly loosened hiring standards are meant to protect survivors of human trafficking and people who were forced into acts of bestiality, not open the agency to offenders.
The agency quietly amended its hiring practices earlier this year and will reportedly consider applicants for special agent positions and other bureau roles even if they have paid for sex, though FBI officials have repeatedly stressed that people who committed sex crimes would still be ineligible.
“Applicants who have engaged in bestiality,” said Patel, referencing the hiring language, “means they were victims of bestiality because they were forced to do so.”
Patel grilled over ‘bestiality’
Kennedy, frustrated, repeatedly asked Patel why the FBI would even need to specifically clarify hiring language when it comes to bestiality while the bureau faces intense scrutiny over a mass exodus of agents.
“All of this stuff has really hurt the FBI. It’s really hurt the FBI,” Kennedy said. “Why would you, in light of the context, and what we’re going through — we’re having a hard time attracting agents, good quality agents we all can trust, because so many people, fairly or unfairly, think in order you have to be an FBI agent now, your political point of view matters. Why would you even get into bestiality?”
Patel then tried to answer before the senator offered an example.
“If Joe participated in bestiality, not as the animal but as the human, don’t you think he oughta be disqualified?” Kennedy said.
Patel said that person would be disqualified from the bureau if they “voluntarily” engaged in bestiality, but not if they were trafficked.
“How do you involuntarily do it?” asked Kennedy, who suggested that the hiring language was recommended to Patel by other FBI employees.
“I say this with respect,” Kennedy said. “The person who recommended it, why didn’t you just say, ‘What planet did you parachute from?’”
Applicants also will not be automatically disqualified from the bureau if they stole from an employee, as long as the incident occurred more than three years ago.
It remains unclear what prompted changes to the application process and hiring language, but retired FBI agent Daniel Brunner told the Associated Press that likely indicates a staffing problem at the bureau, which lost more than 1,000 special agents in 2025, according to an analysis of federal personnel data from Justice Connection.
“If they’re moving the bar for sexual encounters to include prostitution, what is that saying about the applicant pool? They’re trying to bring in more people, which to me indicates that the applicant pool is extremely shallow right now,” Brunner told the outlet.
The FBI director defended the mass purge of agents from the bureau, claiming they were “weaponizing” the agency under President Joe Biden.
Agents were removed “for reasons that they basically failed to meet the standards of the FBI,” then claimed that they “were terminated for weaponizing the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
Patel refuses to say FBI won’t ‘interfere’ with elections
Democratic members of the panel repeatedly asked Patel whether he intends to deploy FBI agents to the polls on Election Day after several officials from Donald Trump’s administration refuse to dismiss the idea of federal agents or federalized National Guard troops stationed at polling stations.
“We have election crisis coordinators manned at all 56 field offices,” he told Senator Peter Welch. “The FBI will not shy away from that effort.”
But he refused to answer whether the FBI will “in any way interfere in the will of the American people” when they cast their ballots.
“I pledge unequivocally that I will not participate in your charade of lies,” Patel told Welch.
Patel says he’s the victim of ‘smear campaign’ over questions on spending and drinking
Patel filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit earlier this year against The Atlantic, which is standing by a journalist’s reporting that characterized the FBI director as a deeply paranoid figure prone to drinking to excess. His lawsuit accuses the outlet of publishing a “sweeping, malicious and defamatory hit piece.”
“As a U.S. citizen, I have every right to claim the truth,” Patel told the committee Tuesday. “She printed false material. I am taking her to court.”
He then shot back at Democratic Senator Peter Welch, who was questioning Patel, for “participating” in a “smear campaign” against him.
“You cannot stand the fact that President Trump and this FBI have made America more secure than it’s ever been,” he said. “Your time’s up.”
Asked whether the FBI is investigating the journalist, Patel told Welch: “You hard of hearing? I just said no.”
Patel is also the subject of several investigations from Democratic members of Congress over his alleged “misuse” of taxpayer funds for “luxury” expenses, including a fleet of BMW vehicles, while jet setting on “official” business that includes jet ski trips and helicopter tours.
The investigation, launched by top Democrats on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, follows a letter to Patel from Republican Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, who demanded that the FBI director answer questions about luxury cars, his use of government aircraft and whether he reimbursed taxpayers for personal travel.
In their letter, dated July 8, Rep. Jamie Raskin and Sen. Dick Durbin said Patel has been accused of demanding special “perks” during international travel, including “VIP snorkeling” trips in Hawaii and jet skiing, helicopter tours and other recreational activities while on FBI business.
Grassley — a top Trump ally in the Senate — asked Patel in May to “please explain why you decided to purchase BMW vehicles instead of Chevy Suburbans.”
Pressed by Democratic Senator Cory Booker on whether he enlisted a SWAT detail to protect and drive his girlfriend, Patel accused him of “attacking me and my loved ones.”
