At exactly 9:30 this morning, the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, stood in front of photojournalists, members of Congress, and their staff, wearing a deep blue suit with a delicate pastel pink tie. With his right hand held up high and his left hand clenched tight at his thigh, he pledged “to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” Minutes later, he was defending his department’s decision to remove bestiality as an automatic disqualification for employment with the FBI, making it possible for applicants who engaged in repulsive acts with an animal to still be eligible to join the most powerful law enforcement agency in the country.
Senator Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, opened the line of questioning by reading directly from an internal FBI memo issued this past June. “According to a memo issued this June, the FBI has lowered its hiring standards by dropping automatic disqualification for applicants who have stolen from employers, paid for sex, or engaged in bestiality,” Durbin said. What followed might be one of the most embarrassing moments in FBI history. The Director attempted to justify the unjustifiable, degrading his office, and humiliated the entire department in the process.
Durbin went straight to the heart of the matter, asking Patel whether these were the “qualified candidates” the FBI had been losing. Patel never actually answered the question. Instead, he said, “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.” Durbin didn’t let it go. He kept pushing. “What I’m reading to you is that you dropped automatic disqualification for applicants who have been engaged in bestiality. Not victims of bestiality, applicants who have engaged,”
Patel was trapped and dug in deeper. “Applicants who have engaged in bestiality means they were victims of bestiality because they were forced to do so.” Then he added, “At this FBI we are not going to criminalize and prevent victims from serving.”
Rather than explain why the FBI suddenly changed a policy that once automatically disqualified applicants who acknowledged engaging in bestiality, Patel decided to explain it away by trying to create a narrative in which “engaged in bestiality” somehow meant those applicants were victims of animal assaults and had been forced to participate against their will. The director has quite a creative imagination to come up with a cover story like that. I often wonder if the Trump administration has a team sitting on standby around the clock just to manufacture enough spin to explain away anything, even things as absurd as this.
While so much of the attention today went to bestiality, the actual policy change applies specifically to applicants who engaged in that act or animal cruelty before the age of eighteen; it still helped bury the other two changes to their hiring policy: theft from a previous employer and paying for sex. When they removed bestiality as an automatic disqualification, they also made stealing from an employer more than three years ago no longer an automatic bar to joining the FBI, and neither is having paid for sex fewer than three times more than 10 years ago. Bestiality rightfully caught many of our eyes when these changes came to light, but maybe that also meant the more likely wrongdoings were not given nearly as much attention as they deserved. And maybe that was the point.
It wasn’t just Democrats trying to make sense of what was happening. Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a Republican, was equally dumbfounded. Patel treated him like an enemy as well, telling him that the old rules “automatically disqualified any individual who participated on either side of it.” Kennedy stopped and asked, “Either side of what? The bestiality?” and then added, “So you disqualified the animal?” Patel thought this was all too funny and responded with, “Well, we have great canines, but we’re not going to disqualify them.” Kennedy was rightfully not impressed with his answer and pressed on with his questioning, “I’m really trying to understand.” Before asking, “On what planet” was this change suggested? and “How do you involuntarily do bestiality?” Bewildered, he finally asked, “But you’re not telling us today that if a human being had sex with an animal, that they can still be an FBI agent?”
The hearing lasted nearly 5 hours, starting just after 9 AM, and the bestiality exchange was sadly just the beginning. What followed was shouting, deflection, insults, political double talk, and a complete disrespect for what the FBI used to be when it had competent leadership.
Senator Cory Booker seemed completely done with Director Patel before he even could answer a single question, telling him at one point that “He’s an incompetent lackey.” With his voice rising, he added that “He’s like an 18-year-old kid who wants to join a fraternity that he could never be a member of, doing keg stands and chugging with friends. He’s an embarrassment to the agency and wouldn’t qualify even to be an FBI agent.”
Patel’s response showed exactly why there is so much outrage over him holding such an important position in our government. He said, “I don’t have much to say. This guy called me a thug. It’s kind of ironic. He’s running for president of the United States. He just got his 20-second ad campaign.” That was the Director of the FBI at an oversight hearing. There is no dignity left, or maybe there never was any to begin with. Booker was ready to respond, though: “Here’s the thing, Mr. Patel. I think you’re not gonna be around long. I think this might be your last oversight hearing. Because, as much as you supplicate yourself to the will of Donald Trump and not the Constitution of the United States of America, Donald Trump has shown us in his first term and in this term, he is not loyal to people like you. He will cut you loose.” What followed was shouting between the two, and the Director of the FBI calling a senator’s words “false information.” Booker ended up yelling back to Patel, telling him, “I am not afraid of you!” Patel just couldn’t control himself and screamed at him, “You are the biggest mockery in the United States Senate, and you’re sitting next to Schiff.” This is who is leading our top law enforcement agency.
Senator Adam Schiff took a different approach with his line of questioning, focusing instead on the hundreds of FBI agents who have been fired after working on investigations involving Donald Trump. Schiff noted that there was very little Democrats could do about it while Republicans were in control of Congress, but then warned Patel of what was to come: “While this Congress is not going to investigate the wrongful termination of potentially hundreds of agents for working on properly predicated investigations, the next Congress will.”
This was an important distinction from much of the other interrogations that happened today because it is a warning not just to Patel, but to those who are carrying out his dirty work. We are watching, and you will not be safe from the consequences of your actions, even if you are taking orders from Patel. Democrats are already building the case against these Trump sycophants for later investigations and hearings, and hopefully impeachment proceedings after Congress is once again controlled by Democrats in January.
This was another day where I had to take breaks and watch in sections. I just kept thinking about how foolish Kash Patel looked. How completely unqualified and undignified. It was equally embarrassing and fear-inducing. His evasive answers and absurd explanations made the room feel so small and cheap. This was the United States Senate Judiciary Committee. This is where oversight over serious matters is supposed to happen, and where the people we elected are supposed to hold power accountable. Yet today all we saw was the director of the FBI screaming insults because he was asked a question he did not want to answer, or did not know how to answer. It showed a very real weakness in our government. One our adversaries can and most likely already are exploiting.
Senator Richard Blumenthal asked him possibly the most important question of the entire day: Does the FBI take personal directions from the White House? He cited three former FBI officials who have sued Patel and former Attorney General Pam Bondi, alleging they were fired on direct orders of the Executive Branch. Patel snapped at him and said, “Do not put words in my mouth. We’re on the record.”
There were also questions about him appropriating the office for personal gain and use, mainly focused on using the FBI jet for personal travel and using the office to gain entry into the U.S. men’s hockey team’s Olympic locker room celebration. Senator Welch asked him if the FBI plans to send agents to polling places ahead of the midterms and also asked Patel to pledge that the FBI would not interfere in the election. Patel’s response was exactly what one would expect him to say: “I have pledged unequivocally that I will not participate in your charade of lies.” He refused to make the pledge.
While Patel was melting down in the Senate, his boss, the president, was having an equally humiliating day. This morning, Judge Christopher Cooper blocked the Kennedy Center Board’s latest attempt to add Trump’s name back to the building. He said their legal argument amounted to little more than “linguistic gymnastics” to get around his earlier court order and the congressional statute that says the center is a memorial to President John F. Kennedy.
Not too long after the ruling came down, it was reported that Donald Trump called the Kennedy Center board during their meeting and screamed at the only person on the board who stood up to him. According to three sources familiar with the exchange, Trump berated Representative Joyce Beatty, the only Democrat on the board and whose lawsuit prevented his name from going back on the building. One source described it by saying, “It was f**king crazy.” Another said Trump screamed at Beatty and blamed her for getting the courts involved and for what he considered the downfall of the performing arts center. Beatty reportedly told Trump he was the one who had put the Kennedy Center into deep debt.
In an act of spite toward our entire country, his hand-picked board voted to immediately close the Kennedy Center.
Joyce Beatty publicly picked a side. She stood up to the President of the United States. She filed the lawsuit, and even after she was muted during earlier votes when she tried to object, she kept showing up and resisting. That is what courage looks like.
We also saw a Republican take a stand against this administration. Representative Thomas Massie read eight articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, on the House floor. Three centered around the war in Iran, alleging that Hegseth continued the war without congressional authorization, defied Congress’s order to withdraw, and failed to comply with laws intended to protect civilians. The remaining articles accused Hegseth of other abuses of power, including the extrajudicial killing of suspected drug traffickers, retaliating against Senator Mark Kelly, the operation to capture Nicolás Maduro, and the unauthorized war in Yemen.
Massie filed the resolution as privileged, which means the House will have to deal with it within two legislative days, right before Congress leaves for recess ahead of the midterms. Regardless of the outcome, and I’m not holding my breath that it will be meaningful, but it will put every Republican, especially those in competitive districts, on the record and force them to answer to their constituents for their vote.
Massie is a lame duck with nothing left to lose after not winning his primary, and he is not someone I hold in particularly high esteem. But this time he did something consequential, even if it was a final act of defiance on his way out the door. It also needs to be said that this is a token attempt at saving face and doing the right thing. Had he really wanted to prove how far he was willing to go, he could have filed articles against Trump as well. He may still have political or lobbying ambitions, which can be quite lucrative, so he most likely didn’t want to burn any bridges he might be able to benefit from in the future.
Al Green, on the other hand, went right at Donald Trump. The congressman from Texas, who also will not be returning to Congress after losing his primary in a district in Texas that was gerrymandered. He has been filing articles of impeachment against Donald Trump since Trump’s first term. He has been censured and even ejected from the State of the Union for holding up a sign. When he lost in the primaries, Donald Trump celebrated his loss on Truth Social by calling him “one of the most mentally deficient Congressmen in the history of our Country.” Green responded to that by saying: “Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. President, but you will hear from me again. I have more than enough time left in Congress to continue calling out your corruption. Sincerely, your unbought, unbossed, unafraid, unelected, liberated democrat.”
Today, as a final act of defiance and resistance, Green forced another vote on articles of impeachment against Trump, this time focused on ICE and Border Patrol being operated as what he called “vicious, quota-driven, unaccountable paramilitary police forces.” The House quickly voted to stop it from gaining momentum. But it still made a difference. This will all go in the history books, and it forced every member of Congress to take a stand, on the record, with their name attached to it. This reminded the country, and the world, that there are still people willing to use every tool available to push back against the authoritarian takeover. It also reminds us that we do not have to live this way, and that the 25th Amendment exists for a reason.
Today is National Voter Registration Day. Please take a moment to check your voter registration. If you are not registered, now is the time. Americans have shown their collective power before in challenging times by showing up and voting when it really matters. I know this time will be the same. I know that we are going to have a response unlike anything we have ever seen before. All we have to do is let our voices be heard. That is why I still have hope for America. You should, too.
I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather
PS. You can make a significant difference right now by subscribing to my Substack. Your support helps me cover more ground and keep telling the truth about the lies and destruction unfolding in this country.
This commentary represents my personal opinions and analysis of matters of public concern, informed by publicly available information. Any references to individuals constitute opinion and commentary protected under the First Amendment.
Picture of the day: I am growing more concerned by the day for the future of our children and grandchildren. How can young people just starting off survive, let alone thrive, in a world where fuel is this expensive? This might be the most tangible evidence we have of just how corrupt our government is under the leadership of the Trump Regime. He ran on the promise of lowering costs, then started a “war” he doesn’t want us calling a “war,” which significantly increased prices. I just want future generations to have stability and hope, and I’m not going to stop resisting until we get there.
Sources used in the writing of this post:
FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before Senate: YouTube video
https://abcnews.com/Politics/kash-patel-testify-fbi-oversight-senate-committee/story?id=136428159
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/15/politics/live-news/kash-patel-hearing-senate
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/15/politics/trump-kennedy-center-name
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-candidates-prostitutes-theft/
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/15/republican-rep-massie-seeks-hegseths-impeachment-over-iran.html
Please keep fighting
Every day something worst comes up but it is great to hear that huge cracks are starting to appear.
I have heating oil to run my household heating , I need to refill my tank and had hoped prices would go down but they have just soared again and I am now looking at a £1.10 a litre cost, in April it was £.65p a litre.
And no it’s not Zelensky’s fault the hero of our time it is PUTIN, TRUMP,NETANYAHU and Pete ridiculous Hesketh who are completely and corruptly to blame.
Yet another example of how trumpet chooses the officials in his administration solely based on how loyal they are to him, and not for their expertise or competence.