FBI Under Kash Patel Eases Background Check Rules on Bestiality and Prostitution, Drawing Backlash
Key Takeaways
- •The FBI in June eased background check rules so that hiring sex workers, stealing from an employer, and bestiality are no longer automatic disqualifiers for agent applicants.
- •Sources said an applicant may pass despite hiring a sex worker fewer than three times and not within the past decade, and bestiality committed as a minor may not disqualify.
- •The policy shift follows the loss of more than 1,000 FBI special agents in 2025 through firings, forced retirements, and polygraphs since President Trump returned to power.
- •Director Kash Patel has not addressed the specific changes but stated in a July interview that the FBI is making hiring harder, not reducing standards.
- •Congress and the inspector general have oversight authority over FBI hiring practices and may examine the tension between staffing losses and vetting standards.
The FBI under Director Kash Patel is drawing sharp criticism online after a new report revealed that the bureau quietly loosened vetting standards that once automatically disqualified applicants who had hired sex workers, stolen from an employer, or engaged in bestiality.
According to CBS News, the FBI in June eased certain background check rules so that those acts — most of them illegal — are no longer automatic disqualifiers for prospective agents. Sources told the outlet that a candidate may now receive a pass on prostitution so long as they did not hire sex workers three or more times and not within the past decade, and that someone who committed bestiality as a minor could still qualify.
Background investigations have long been a cornerstone of the FBI's hiring process, used to assess an applicant's suitability, integrity, and vulnerability to blackmail or coercion — qualities the bureau has historically treated as central to national security work. Loosening automatic disqualifiers in that process therefore touches on more than recruitment mechanics; it alters how the bureau evaluates the trustworthiness of its own workforce.
The policy shift comes as the FBI lost more than 1,000 special agents in 2025, part of an exodus of firings, forced retirements, and polygraphs since President Donald Trump returned to power. Critics argue the relaxed rules point to a recruiting crisis.
"How can this not be reflective of a recruiting problem at the FBI if you are lowering your standards on issues like bestiality and prostitution?" attorney Mark Zaid told CBS.
The online reaction mixed disbelief with ridicule.
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National security journalist Marcy Wheeler put it bluntly: "Kash Patel's FBI: Where bestiality is not a deal breaker."
https://x.com/emptywheel/status/2093457943421227123
Former FBI profiler Julia Cowley needled the bureau's priorities: "But you still have to pass the color vision test."
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Researcher Noelle Cook cracked: "A promising new career path for far too many of you."
https://x.com/noellecook_com/status/2093475504666091700
Patel has not addressed the specific changes but insists standards are rising, even as he faces scrutiny over hiring deputy Dan Bongino despite a failed background check and accusations of padding recruiting statistics. How the bureau resolves the tension between its staffing losses and its stated commitment to stricter vetting remains an open question for Congress and the inspector general, both of which have oversight authority over FBI hiring practices.
"We're not reducing our standards," Patel said in a July interview. "We're actually making it harder."
