Patel for the first time responded to a CBS News report about an internal memo issued in June that removed certain automatic disqualifiers for people applying to the FBI. Previously, the FBI automatically disqualified people who acknowledged engaging in acts of bestiality. Now, if those acts took place before the age of 18, it is no longer an automatic disqualifier to being hired.
“Thank you for bringing this up, so we can get to the truth of the matter,” Patel told Durbin. “What we did was, 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. They still have to go to the same rigorous standards and application process.”
He added: “At this FBI, we are not going to criminalize and prevent victims from serving the United States of America and the premier law enforcement agency in the world. They did that before. I eliminated the bureaucracy that prevented these great Americans from serving, or at least being considered from serving.”
Louisiana Senator John Kennedy, a Republican, also pushed Patel on the hiring standards change.
“Why would you even get into bestiality?” Kennedy asked Patel.
Patel responded that he was advised to change the hiring practices and signed off on them.
“I say this with respect,” Kennedy said. “The person who recommended it, why didn’t you just say, “What planet did you parachute in from?”
“That was my initial response, Senator,” Patel said. “But they then explained to me and showed me cases in which people were forced into it and had applied to the FBI, and so I thought they should be considered. It’s not an automatic disqualification.”
