Kash Patel says FBI won’t automatically reject some applicants over prostitution, bestiality. Here’s the catch

FBI Director Kash Patel has defended changes to the bureau's hiring rules that allow some applicants with past involvement in prostitution or bestiality to be considered for jobs, saying the policy was changed to ensure victims of trafficking or abuse are not automatically barred from serving at the agency.

The unusual hiring policy became one of several flashpoints at a contentious Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, where Patel also faced questions over the dismissal of FBI personnel involved in investigations of President Donald Trump and whether agents could be sent to polling places during November's midterm elections.

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The FBI issued guidance earlier this year removing a categorical hiring restriction covering applicants who had previously participated in prostitution. It made a similar change concerning applicants who had experienced bestiality as children, reported AP.

Patel rejected suggestions that the changes amounted to lowering the FBI's hiring standards. Instead, he said, the objective was to distinguish people who voluntarily engaged in such conduct from those who had been forced into it.

"We 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 were a victim of these awful, heinous acts," Patel said. "We are not going to target victims and prevent them from serving in their capacity to serve this country."

The policy does not mean all applicants with such histories can join the FBI. The bureau still intends to disqualify some applicants found to have engaged in prostitution, including those who did so within the previous 10 years, the Associated Press reported last month.

Republican senator questions policy

Questions about the changes came from both sides of the aisle.

Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana pressed Patel on why such a change had been considered in the first place. Patel said the proposal had been brought to him by officials working under him.

"When you saw bestiality, I say this with respect: The person who recommended it, why didn't you just say what planet did you parachute in from?" Kennedy asked.

Patel said his initial reaction had been similar before officials explained the circumstances behind the proposal.

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"they then explained to me and showed me cases in which people were forced into it and applied to the FBI and so I thought they should be considered. It's not an automatic disqualification."

Patel and Democrats trade insults

The hearing became increasingly combative as Democratic senators questioned Patel's leadership of the FBI, including personnel decisions, politically sensitive investigations and his travel.

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey delivered one of the sharpest attacks.

"He's an incompetent lackey. He's like an 18-year old-kid who wants to join a fraternity that he could never be a member of, doing keg stands and chugging with friends. He's an embarrassment to the agency and wouldn't qualify even to be an FBI agent," Booker said.

"What a mockery you are," he added.

Patel responded with a personal attack of his own.

"You are the biggest mockery in the United States Senate, and you're sitting next to Schiff."

Patel was referring to Democratic Senator Adam Schiff of California, a frequent critic of the FBI director.

Democrats also raised Patel's travel, including a visit to the Winter Olympics in Italy, where he spent time with US hockey players, and a snorkeling excursion at the Pearl Harbor memorial in Hawaii.

Could FBI agents be sent to polling places?

Another major line of questioning centred on what role the FBI could play during November's midterm elections.

The issue has taken on greater significance as the bureau pursues investigations connected to the 2020 election, including the seizure of voter data in Fulton County, Georgia.

Trump has repeatedly claimed US elections are affected by widespread fraud. However, audits, recounts and reviews conducted after the 2020 election in battleground states where the results were challenged affirmed Joe Biden's victory, and evidence has not established widespread fraud capable of altering the national result.

Asked about the FBI's authority to monitor elections, Patel said the broader responsibility rests with the Department of Homeland Security. He said election crimes coordinators would operate from each of the FBI's 56 field offices on Election Day.

But Patel did not rule out agents being dispatched to polling places if problems or reports of election interference emerged.

Democratic Senator Peter Welch of Vermont pressed Patel for a commitment that the bureau would not interfere with voters.

"Do you pledge that you will not in any way interfere in the will of the American people when they go to the polls in November?" Welch asked.

"I pledge unequivocally that I will not participate in your charade of lies," Patel responded.

He later called Welch a "total fraud."

FBI firings come under scrutiny

The hearing also returned repeatedly to personnel changes at the FBI since Patel took charge, particularly the removal of agents who had worked on investigations involving Trump.

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut questioned Patel about the dismissal of national security personnel with expertise on Iran shortly before the US launched attacks on the country in February.

Those agents had previously participated in the FBI investigation into Trump's retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

"Do you think firing the president's political opponents is more important than retaining the decades of experience and expertise monitoring intelligence threats from Iran?" Blumenthal asked.

"I think what's most important is to not have a weaponized FBI, and I will endeavor every single day to make sure we have no one there that is doing that," Patel responded.

Patel did not explain during that exchange why participation in the Mar-a-Lago investigation constituted what he described as a "weaponized FBI." He later argued that the extent of the personnel purge had been overstated because many agents had retired voluntarily.

The FBI director also used the hearing to tout the bureau's performance on crime, claiming the country had experienced the "most prolific reduction in crime in U.S. history." Violent crime in American cities, however, had begun declining before Trump returned to office in 2025, with researchers attributing the broader trend to multiple possible factors.

Patel also defended his travel record, saying figures showed that former FBI directors Chris Wray and James Comey had travelled more than he had.

With inputs from AP