Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy pressed FBI Director Kash Patel over a revised hiring rule involving bestiality at a Senate hearing. The rule no longer automatically disqualifies some applicants who were forced into such conduct. Kennedy questioned why the bureau addressed the issue while struggling to recruit trusted agents.
A video posted on X showed Kennedy asking what the previous policy required. “It automatically disqualified any individual who participated on either side of it,” Patel said. He added that officials established the rule before he became director.
Kennedy then asked whether someone who voluntarily participated in bestiality should still face disqualification. “If he voluntarily did it, sure, but if he was trafficked into it,” Patel replied.
“How do you involuntarily do it?” Kennedy asked. The FBI director said traffickers force victims into prostitution and other degrading acts. Some victims later became law enforcement officers and applied to the FBI.
Patel confirmed the changes did not originate with him but were later recommended to him. He said officials showed him cases involving people forced into such conduct. “I thought they should be considered,” the director said. “It’s not an automatic disqualification, that’s all.”
Kennedy then returned to voluntary conduct. He asked whether someone who willingly had sex with an animal could still become an FBI agent.
“No,” Patel said
John Kennedy Presses Kash Patel Over FBI Bestiality Hiring Rule
The exchange quickly raised questions about why the issue appeared in FBI hiring standards and how frequently such cases arise.
“How prevalent is bestiality at the FBI that this policy change was an action item?” one user asked. Another questioned the setting itself: “Seriously, how is this a discussion being had in Congress?!?!”
Others focused on Patel’s explanation involving trafficking victims. “Ive been around for 7 decades and I’ve never ever once heard of anyone being trafficked and forced into beastiality,” one response stated. Another asked, “How many people who were trafficked into bestiality are applying to be FBI agents?”
Some responses defended the distinction Patel was making. One user asked, “It’s not that hard to understand. He doesn’t want to punish the victims of human trafficking and made to do things that they didn’t want to do.”
The FBI now considers some applicants case by case instead of automatically disqualifying them. Questions remain over how narrowly that exception applies.
