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President Trump nominated Kash Patel to head the FBI not because of her short experience in law enforcement, but because she is a political brawler. The problem, as Patel proved yesterday, is that he’s not very good. No seasoned political messenger would allow nearly every headline about a Senate hearing to link his name or agency to bestiality.
Yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing marked Patel’s first appearance on Capitol Hill since her tumultuous visit in May. (During that hearing, Patel and Sen. Chris Van Hollen each verbally agreed to take a self-screening test for alcohol abuse.) Van Hollen Posted The results were returned the next day, but his office said it had not heard from Patel. ) This was also Patel’s first hearing since then. CBS News reveals Changes to the FBI’s hiring criteria reportedly allow the agency to consider applicants who have hired prostitutes less than three times, stole from an employer more than three years ago, or had sex with an animal before the age of 18.
Democrats aggressively pursued Mr. Patel about the change, but the most exciting exchange during the hearing turned out to be between Mr. Patel and Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana. During cross-examination, Kennedy appeared to be doing his best to offer Patel an opportunity to soften his story, but Patel was unable or unwilling to recognize the opening and did not accept it.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, a ranking Democrat, first asked about the new requirements. Patel said the bestiality changes were designed to ensure that people who were forced to have sex with animals would not be barred from FBI work. “We didn’t want to punish victims of bestiality,” Patel said. “We do not intend to target victims.” It is unclear whether this is accurate. The memo setting the new standards has not been made public, but officials told CBS News that the rules “do not distinguish between candidates who have been forced to engage in sex acts with animals and candidates who have voluntarily engaged in such acts.”
Kennedy was the next senator to question Patel, and Patel tried to clean up. “I’m really trying to understand,” she said, rubbing her face. “Because I’ve listened to your interactions with Sen. Durbin, and I’ve read some of the news articles, and I’m confused.” He almost rhetorically asked Patel to confirm that the FBI still had hiring standards, which Patel argued were necessary to quickly hire talented agents. Regarding bestiality, the old rules stated that “individuals who participated on either side were automatically disqualified.”
Kennedy was a bit of a hamster, so he couldn’t resist the jibe, “So you disqualified animals?” But he was also losing his patience. “I’m trying to understand why you did this,” he said, then offered a rare candor about how many Senate hearings work today. “I understand the game. People are trying to make you look bad. We do the same thing when the other side is in power.” He gave Patel another chance. He responded that traffickers sometimes force victims to commit bestiality, and the FBI does not want to disqualify victims. However, it is reported that the guidelines do not make such a distinction.
An exasperated Kennedy would not accept it. “Someone came to you and recommended this”? he asked. “And when you saw bestiality— and I say this with all due respect — the person who suggested it, why didn’t you just obediently say, “What planet did you parachute from?” Why do I want to lead with my jaw and do bestiality? ”
One answer is that Mr. Patel is not very politically astute. It’s hard to argue that you’re cleaning up and reforming the FBI when you’re allowing applications from people like Mr. Patel who stole from John and their employers. As for bestiality, the controversy could have been avoided if the FBI memo that originally established the new standard had been worded more carefully. Had he been better prepared for the hearing, he might have been able to get a clearer explanation than what he presented. And a sharper intuition would have told Patel that Kennedy was trying to help him. High-level appointees should be able to pass Congressional hearings without bestiality becoming a major topic of discussion. Instead, Patel takes her cues from Trump, whom she instinctively always rebels against. But what works for President Trump won’t work for others. It is no longer clear whether that will work for Trump.
Mr. Patel may have felt the need to relax the qualifications for agents, as he has experienced an exodus of FBI personnel since taking office. More than 1,100 special employees with an average tenure of about 22 years retired in 2025 alone, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management. For Durbin suspect More than 5,000 nonpartisan civilian employees retired last year. Some people left their jobs voluntarily, while others were fired. involved in the investigation Things Trump and Patel don’t like, like those investigating the Jan. 6 riot. This spring, my colleague Sarah Fitzpatrick reported that Patel’s colleagues were concerned about Patel’s excessive drinking, frequent absenteeism, emotional outbursts, and impulsive behavior. (Patel denies the allegations and says that Fitzpatrick and atlantic ocean (Seeks $250 million for defamation).
If Mr. Patel doesn’t have the skills or temperament to successfully run the FBI, hasn’t really cleaned up the agency, and can’t get through even regular Senate hearings without incident, one might wonder why he’s in the job in the first place. The decline in hiring standards appears to start at the top.
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today’s news
- The Fed raised interest rates by a quarter of a point today.This is the first increase since 2023, with the base interest rate rising from 3.75% to 4%. Federal Reserve officials have indicated that they may raise rates again later this year, citing rising inflation.
- Presented by Chairman Mike Johnson. House Republicans end session one day earlypostponed a vote on Republican Rep. Thomas Massie’s impeachment resolution against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth until after the November election. Massi accused Hegseth of abusing his authority in responding to the U.S.-Iranian conflict. Attorney General Todd Blanche said Hegseth was “following the law.”
- Houthi militia says it has shot down a Saudi fighter jet over YemenSaudi Arabia then announced that it had intercepted a Houthi drone near Mecca. As fighting between both sides intensified, the Houthis denied targeting Mecca.
night reading
Venezuelan People’s Problem
Written by Tony Frangie Mawad
Days after two deadly earthquakes struck northern Venezuela on June 24, leaving people dead. at least 6,000 Amidst the devastation and tens of thousands more injured, the Venezuelan Earthquake Research Foundation, known as Funvisis, took extraordinary measures. public petition: Can the person who stole the GPS sensor return it?
For 13 years, this precision instrument was bolted to a rocky outcrop in the hills of western Venezuela, silently tracking the millimeter-scale movement of the Bocono fault, the likely source of the first of the two earthquakes. When Funvisis technicians went to retrieve the readings stored in the sensor, they discovered that the machine was missing. More than two months after the earthquake, the organization still doesn’t know who did it.
Read the full article.
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culture break
Please remember. Annie Dillard, who died yesterday at the age of 81, believed that listening to the natural world was a form of prayer in itself, writes Isabel Fatale.
Explore. Lily Meyer writes about an all-too-rare element in adult life: Whatever happened to being stupid?
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Rafaela Jinich contributed to this newsletter.
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