FBI Confirms and Defends New Hiring Eligibility Rules Allowing Applicants who have Engaged in Bestiality and Purchasing Sex

On September 15, FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed widespread reports that the agency has eliminated its longstanding automatic disqualification of job applicants who have committed the crimes of purchasing sex and bestiality. We at Street Grace strongly object, and urge the FBI to revert to its previous non-negotiable disqualifications for these crimes.

This past June the FBI announced to staff who run background checks that paying for sex and committing acts of bestiality were no longer automatically disqualify for job applicants. The change was part of a broader relaxation of criteria initiated in response to the FBI’s difficulty in hiring new recruits and retaining current employees. 

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patel defended the new criteria, saying that the changes were made because the FBI “did not want to punish victims of bestiality, victims who were trafficked.” The answer drew pointed questions from Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, who asked Patel about the rationale for a change that the FBI director said was proposed to him by subordinates. “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?” Kennedy asked. Patel replied that that was his initial reaction but he came to see it as a way of supporting victims.

A letter from the Senate Judiciary Committee to Director Patel dated September 14, 2026, the day before the public hearing, also expressed grave concerns about the lowered standards:

“These are not minor technical adjustments. They represent a considered decision to open the Bureau’s ranks to individuals who engaged in conduct that the FBI previously treated as disqualifying—and that, in the case of solicitation of prostitution, controlling Department of Justice policy describes as “threaten[ing] the core mission of the Department, not simply because it invites extortion, blackmail, and leaks of sensitive or classified information, but also because it undermines the Department’s efforts to eradicate the scourge of human trafficking.”

We at Street Grace believe that the policy change regarding purchasing sex directly undermines efforts to prevent and eradicate sex trafficking.  Every dollar that motivates criminal networks to exploit their victims in the sex trade originates from the pockets of sex buyers.  It is imperative that government laws and policies consistently and vigorously reinforce the message that purchasing sex is a serious offense, directly responsible for the suffering of every adult and child sex trafficking victim, and will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Removing it from the list of automatically-disqualifying behaviors for applicants sends precisely the wrong message, signaling that paying to sexually exploit others is not considered by the FBI to be an offense serious enough to be incompatible with the privilege of obtaining positions entrusted with upholding American laws and values.   

Regarding the new eligibility of applicants who have engaged in bestiality, we are appalled. The moral objections to this change are too obvious to require explanation. The stated reason of the change - helping to support sex trafficking victims - strikes us as a rationalization, rather than a legitimate means of supporting victims. We challenge to FBI to present evidence that any applicants have been unjustly disqualified because they had been coerced into committing bestiality at the hands of human traffickers, and were therefore victims rather than offenders.  

We urge the FBI to take every opportunity to reinforce its commitment to ending sex trafficking by eliminating the revenue stream supplied by sex buyers.  We believe that maintaining its longstanding commitment to disqualify sex buyers when making hiring decisions is consistent with that commitment, while relaxing this prohibition undermines efforts to abolish sexual exploitation.  We also urge the Bureau to seek higher moral ground regarding bestiality.  Nobody with a history of committing that crime should be entrusted with ensuring the safety and security of the public.