Things got a bit spicy at a Tuesday morning hearing on Capitol Hill after Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) grilled FBI Director Kash Patel over the agency's new hiring standards, which now allow certain behaviors that once automatically disqualified applicants. Somehow, the deviant sexual practice of bestiality made it into the conversation.
The remarkable exchange between Kennedy and Patel took place during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s annual FBI oversight hearing. Kennedy's line of questioning seemed to originate from an August CBS News report claiming the FBI had "quietly lowered" some of its standards for prospective agents and other employees back in June.
Prior to those changes, applicants who admitted to things like hiring prostitutes, stealing from an employer, or engaging in bestiality were automatically disqualified. That's apparently no longer the case.
CBS reported that the new standards specifically address applicants who had histories of bestiality or animal cruelty and allow them to remain under consideration if the conduct occurred before they turned 18. Anonymous sources told CBS that the new eligibility standards don't distinguish between someone who was coerced into sexual activity with an animal and someone who participated in the act willingly.
And that brings us to Sen. Kennedy.
🚨 NOW: FBI Director Kash Patel says someone who has s*x with an animal cannot become an FBI agent after questioning from Sen. John Kennedy
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 15, 2026
Quite the line of questioning...
PATEL: "We are not into bestiality."
KENNEDY: "I know you're not into bestiality. But you mentioned… pic.twitter.com/ygV4zdXjZz
Kennedy wanted to know why – with the FBI already facing questions about public trust and recruitment – Patel would approve a change that would definitely raise some eyebrows.
"Why would you, in light of the context and what we're going through — and we're having a tough time attracting agents, good-quality agents we all can trust, because so many people, fairly or unfairly, think that in order to be an FBI agent now, your political point of view matters — why would you even get into bestiality?"
"We are not into bestiality," Patel responded rather quickly.
Kennedy wanted know why the bureau had changed its qualifications in a way that made that subject in any way relevant to its hiring practices. "You changed the qualifications and mentioned bestiality," he said. "If Joe participated in bestiality — not as the animal, but as the human — don't you think he ought to be disqualified?"
"If he voluntarily did it, sure," Patel responded. "But if he was trafficked into it, then he should be considered."
Patel then revealed that he himself had not initiated the changes.
KENNEDY: "I mean, these changes didn't start with you, did they?"
PATEL: "No."
KENNEDY: "Somebody came to you and recommended them?"
PATEL: "Yeah."
That's when Kennedy asked perhaps the most obvious question of the exchange.
"And 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? Why do I want to lead with my chin and get into bestiality?'"
"Well, that was my initial response," Patel admitted.
He said FBI officials showed him cases involving people who had been forced into such acts and later applied to the bureau.
"And so I thought they should be considered. It's not an automatic disqualification. That's all."
That's a reasonable distinction. Victims forced into depraved acts shouldn't be treated the same as willing participants.
But Kennedy wanted to make absolutely sure the matter was settled, asking, "But you're not telling us today that if a human being had sex with an animal, that they can still be an FBI agent?"
To which Patel replied, "They cannot."
That's settled, then.
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