The FBI previously refused to hire job applicants if they admitted to hiring sex workers or stealing from an employer — or engaging in acts of bestiality.
Today, those acts, which are mostly illegal across the country, are no longer automatic deal breakers for applicants to the nation's top law enforcement agency.
In June, the FBI quietly lowered some of the standards it uses when it conducts background checks on would-be federal agents and other personnel. According to multiple sources briefed on the matter, the FBI did so to facilitate hiring in some cases, even if candidates acknowledged they engaged in sexually deviant activities or stole from an employer.
The move comes as the FBI has lost scores of employees through firings, retirements and resignations since the start of the Trump administration.
Under specific circumstances, the FBI is willing to give candidates a pass on prostitution, as long as they have not hired sex workers three or more times, the sources told CBS News. And the hiring of the sex workers must not have taken place within the last 10 years, several of the sources added.
On this part of the guidance, the FBI spokesperson pointed out that a person may have hired a sex worker in a location where prostitution is legal.
A person who was in a position of "trust" who solicited sex would still be automatically disqualified from FBI employment, one of the sources with direct knowledge of the changes told CBS News.
Examples of positions of trust, according to the FBI's new policy, are those who work in the fields of public safety, education, health, social work, finance or law. Being a member of the military was not among the listed categories, and it was not clear if they would be treated as such.
Under the new eligibility rules, a person who stole from an employer is not automatically disqualified as long as the incident occurred more than three years ago, one of the sources with direct knowledge said.
The new standards also specifically address applicants who have engaged in past acts of bestiality or animal cruelty – saying they may still be considered for the bureau as long as the incidents took place before the age of 18, the sources said.
An FBI spokesperson confirmed that some changes to the eligibility requirements have taken place, but claimed they are limited to a narrow set of circumstances, such as in cases where a person was sexually abused with animals as a child.
"Any polygraph changes reflect a clear difference between a disqualified applicant who has engaged in criminal behavior, versus an applicant who may be subject to further evaluation based on rare exigent circumstances," the spokesperson said.
Sources told CBS News that the new eligibility requirements do not distinguish between candidates who were coerced into sexual activity with animals, as opposed to those who engaged in such acts willingly.
Former FBI agent James Davidson, who now leads the nonprofit FBI Integrity Project, opposes changing this standard.
"Bestiality is clearly a potential indication of a more serious emotional issue, and even in a circumstance where it is not, the pool of candidates should be extensive enough that the criteria should certainly not be eliminated," he said.
Changes communicated in June
The changes to the policy were communicated to FBI personnel who are involved in the background check process in a June 16 internal memo known as an "electronic communication," according to sources with direct knowledge of the memo's contents.
An archived FBI webpage from 2023 on special agent hiring requirements shows that "engagement in prostitution or bestiality" are listed as "automatic disqualifiers" for employment.
A similar version of that document on general eligibility rules currently posted on the FBI's website contains no references to bestiality or prostitution as being disqualifying.
The idea behind some of the new guidelines is to consider the whole person in the application process, as opposed to automatically disqualifying someone based on one factor, one of the sources said.
But current and former FBI employees have concerns the changes could lead the bureau to hire people with questionable backgrounds.
It could raise concerns about the integrity of agents who are tasked with investigating crimes such as human trafficking because those agents often have to testify in court, they said.
The FBI's new policy also runs counter to the views in an April 2015 memo issued to all Justice Department staff that prohibited the solicitation of prostitution. A DOJ spokesperson confirmed the memo remains in effect.
Although the memo does not explicitly address job applicants, the restrictions apply to all employees, contractors and subcontractors.
"This rule applies at all times during an individual's employment, including while off duty or on personal leave, and applies regardless of whether the activity is legal or tolerated in a particular jurisdiction, foreign or domestic," the Holder memo states.
The memo added that soliciting sex not only "invites extortion, blackmail and leaks of sensitive or classified information," but also "undermines the department's efforts to eradicate the scourge of human trafficking."
Broader talent pool concerns
Former FBI agents and attorneys who handle employment issues for agents told CBS News the decision to lower the standards could lead the bureau to hire people with a history of aberrant behavior and points to broader challenges in recruiting qualified applicants.
"If they are lowering standards, it means the pool of candidates has sufficiently shrunk," Davidson said.
Mark Zaid, a Washington lawyer who represents FBI agents and is familiar with the bureau's hiring practices, agreed.
"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," he said.
In a statement, an FBI spokesperson denied that the bureau is allowing people who have a history of criminal sexual acts to work there, and said the FBI "has and always will maintain some of the highest suitability standards for its applicants and employees in the U.S. government."
"Over the years, the FBI has had a number of applicants who suffered sexual abuse in their past, causing polygraph questions about prostitution, bestiality, or other similar issues to affect their polygraph through zero fault of their own," the spokesperson said.
But former FBI officials told CBS News that candidates who are survivors of sexual abuse involving bestiality would have the opportunity to address those issues in an interview before they are hooked up to a polygraph.
"Part of the polygraph process is a conversation with the person who is going to be polygraphed and the polygrapher to explore and explain and discuss anything in their background in a private manner that may be concerning to them," said former Supervisory Special Agent Katherine Schweit, whose assignments over the years included serving as a supervisor for human resources.
One of the sources familiar with the changes told CBS News that during the interview process now, applicants are asked questions about whether they have engaged in what is described as sexually deviant behavior.
If they acknowledge hiring prostitutes or engaging in bestiality, they are then asked the additional questions about when the conduct took place or in the case of prostitution, how many times it took place. Even if a candidate technically meets the hiring criteria, it does not guarantee an employment offer.
FBI Director Kash Patel has not publicly acknowledged the changes on prostitution or bestiality, but he has more broadly spoken about his belief that the FBI needed to update its hiring standards in general.
In a video interview with Patel posted on July 27 with former FBI agent John Nantz, Patel discussed some of his efforts to overhaul older hiring standards to entice new recruits.
"We are losing too many qualified candidates to the rigors of the requirements from yesteryear," he said, citing as one example a new and more relaxed rule on hiring people with prior law enforcement experience.
"We've never had recruiting numbers and application numbers this high in the history of the bureau. We're not reducing our standards — we're actually making it harder. You've got to be fit to be an FBI agent."
The polygraph process
The FBI has long used polygraph tests as part of the vetting of new recruits — from agents and analysts to support staff. During the interview process, applicants are screened to ensure they have not committed certain crimes.
Applicants are also asked about other topics, including any history of drug use and any foreign contacts. Over the years, the bureau has changed some of its standards and has, for instance, relaxed some restrictions on the use of recreational drugs like marijuana.
Bestiality is a crime in nearly every state, while prostitution is illegal in most states with a few narrow exceptions. Prostitution is legal or decriminalized in dozens of countries around the world. It is illegal in the United States, with the exception of some counties in Nevada.
Former FBI agents say questions about this type of behavior are also important to ask because having such a history could make an agent more vulnerable to blackmail by criminals or a foreign power.
"I don't think anybody who has been involved with prostitution is trustworthy. You could be compromised," said one retired agent who specialized in polygraphs. "You can be lured in and trapped, and it can be held over your head."
The FBI was rocked by a prostitution scandal after the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General released a two-page report in 2021 saying a handful of officials had solicited sex while overseas in countries including Cambodia, the Philippines and Thailand.
A more detailed version of the report was released several years later through public records requests from media outlets.
Last July, the Justice Department inspector general substantiated claims that a supervisory special agent had hired prostitutes while traveling overseas on an assignment and used an FBI-issued mobile device to solicit them for sex. The report did not say whether the agent was disciplined or removed, but it noted that prosecution was declined.
FBI lost over 1,000 special agents in 2025
Former FBI analyst Philip Fields reviewed government personnel data and found that in 2025 alone, the FBI lost 1,139 special agents, with an average tenure of 21.8 years. His review was published by the nonprofit advocacy group Justice Connection. The FBI says it employs around 13,700 agents.
Some of the agents and analysts who have been fired were assigned to cases that the Trump administration disliked, such as those pertaining to the investigations into President Trump's retention of classified documents and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
"After driving out thousands of career employees, DOJ has struggled to fill those positions for many reasons — including the fact that no one wants to be ordered to conduct politically driven investigations that are often unethical, illegal or unconstitutional," said Stacey Young, a former Justice Department attorney who now runs the nonprofit advocacy group Justice Connection.
The Justice Department's Civil Division has started offering signing bonuses to try to attract more lawyers. And last year, the FBI sought to entice retired agents to return to its employ.
FBI lowered other hiring standards last year
The New York Times reported last year that the FBI was lowering other hiring standards, removing a requirement that all agents hold a bachelor's degree and reducing the number of weeks that agents must undergo training at Quantico from 18 weeks to eight weeks.
The FBI's website still states that a college degree is required to be a special agent. However, Patel has since unveiled a few other changes to hiring standards for agents.
Previously, special agent applicants were required to have worked in law enforcement for two years after college. Patel said in the July 27 interview, the FBI will now consider applications from candidates who have worked in law enforcement for just one year.
"If you've been a cop for a year and you have an interest in the FBI, no more two-year requirement window after college," Patel said during his video interview with Nantz. "Come on in. Quantico is going to screen you out if you can't make it. Same with members of the military. We want those folks."
ProPublica previously reported that some of Patel's hires, including his personal assistant, did not clear their polygraph tests and required waivers in order to be able to work at the bureau. The FBI spokesman quoted in that article called the reporting "false" and said the bureau "follows all laws and procedures on personnel security measures."
