Patel defends FBI hiring changes at tense Senate hearing

FBI Director Kash Patel defended changes to the bureau’s hiring rules on prostitution and bestiality Tuesday as senators from both parties pressed him during a tense Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing that ranged from FBI staffing standards to election security, internal turmoil and his own conduct.

The FBI issued guidance this spring ending categorical hiring bans for applicants who had previously engaged in prostitution or bestiality, saying the bureau would consider context in at least some cases. Patel denied the changes amounted to lowering standards and said they were intended to avoid automatically excluding victims.

“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,” Patel said.

Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana questioned the rationale and timing, citing the FBI’s difficulty attracting new agents amid negative public sentiment. “Why would you even get into bestiality?” Kennedy asked. Patel said subordinates proposed the change and repeated that people “forced into” such conduct should not be disqualified.

Patel also used the annual oversight hearing to tout the bureau’s record, saying the murder rate had fallen to a 20-year low and calling that “no easy effort.” He said all 10 people on the FBI’s most wanted list had been apprehended during his tenure. Republicans sought to highlight efforts against violent crime, drug trafficking and other Trump administration priorities.

Democrats focused on turmoil inside the FBI, including firings and resignations, the dismissal of agents involved in investigations of President Donald Trump, inquiries involving Trump’s perceived political adversaries and Patel’s travel. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the committee’s top Democrat, called Patel “the least qualified and most partisan FBI director in our nation’s history” and accused him of using law enforcement power to pursue Trump’s grievances, including his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Patel declined to say that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election when pressed by Democratic Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont. “There are many ongoing investigations surrounding that matter, so I’m not going to comment on it and stylize the evidence,” Patel said. Biden won the 2020 election, including Georgia by more than 11,700 votes. The FBI executed a search warrant in January at a Fulton County, Georgia, elections office seeking ballots and other records related to the 2020 vote; no one has been charged in that probe to date.

Welch also asked whether the FBI would have a presence at polling places during the midterm elections. Patel said the bureau has an election crimes coordinator in all field offices and would be “manning the polls for election interference matters.” He added, “Election integrity is of paramount importance. This FBI’s not going to shy away from this effort.” When Welch asked Patel to pledge not to interfere with voters, Patel replied, “I pledge, unequivocally, that I will not participate in your charade of lies.”

Patel defended his decision to sue The Atlantic over an article alleging a drinking problem, saying, “As a U.S. citizen, I have every right to claim the truth. She printed false material. I’m taking her to court.” Al Jazeera reported that Patel filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit and that The Atlantic said it stood by its reporting and would defend against the “meritless lawsuit.” Patel denied that the FBI investigated the article’s author, Sarah Fitzpatrick, saying, “The FBI investigates criminals, and the FBI does not investigate personal matters.”

He also defended joining the U.S. hockey team in its locker room at the Winter Olympics in Italy, saying the players were his friends and had invited him. Patel said no security incidents occurred during the trip and that authorities captured “China’s most prolific hacker” and returned him to the United States.

Under questioning from Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Patel pledged to support investigations into the deadly shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis in January and agreed to provide meaningful information to their families. “We will fully support all those investigations,” he said.