Kash Patel defends removing bestiality as automatic disqualifier for FBI applicants

FBI Director Kash Patel’s decision to remove bestiality as an automatic disqualifier for FBI job applicants drew bipartisan disbelief Tuesday after he said the change was intended to protect trafficking victims coerced into sexual acts with animals. The FBI previously automatically disqualified people who acknowledged engaging in crimes including prostitution or bestiality, which is sexual activity between a human and an animal. Now applicants won’t automatically be disqualified for those acts. Patel said in testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday that the new rules were put in place because “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 are a victim of these awful heinous acts,” he said. Senators across party lines immediately zeroed in on what Patel meant by “victims” of bestiality.