Patel grilled on ICE shootings, Trump Jr.’s wedding…and bestiality?

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GOP senator presses Patel on FBI policy change: ‘Why would you get into bestiality?’

GOP senator presses Patel on FBI policy change: ‘Why would you get into bestiality?’

It’s Tuesday, and it’s Sen. Mitch McConnell’s first full day back in 92 days. 

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Programming note: We’re Joshua Feldstein and Claire Leibowitz, filling in for Cate today. Please send us your tips, comments and story ideas to jfeldstein@thehill.com and cleibowitz@thehill.com. 

Kash Patel’s latest grilling went to some unexpected places: 

FBI Director Kash Patel Tuesday morning appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to field questions regarding shootings involving law enforcement, investigations into the 2020 election and the Epstein files. 

Patel’s opening statement touted lowered rates of violent crime, the FBI’s seizure of more than 3,000 kilograms of fentanyl and the disruption of planned mass-casualty attacks. 

He said that under his leadership, the FBI has had “the most prolific run of crime reduction in United States history.” 

Durbin sets tone for Democrats: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the ranking member on the committee, called Patel the “least qualified and most partisan FBI director in our nation’s history.” He blasted the FBI’s investigation into Obama and Biden-era officials that President Trump accused of attempting to keep him out of office. 

The Illinois senator also pushed Patel on investigations into the shootings of Marimar Martinez, a Chicago woman who was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent, and Silveria Villegas-Gonzalez, an immigrant killed in Chicago during a traffic stop conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  

Patel responded that the investigations are “ongoing,” so he couldn’t further comment. 

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) also questioned Patel on citizens shot by federal agents, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The director pledged to support the investigations. 

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a state investigation, federal investigation, bureau investigation, DHS investigation. We’re fully committed to support all of them,” he said. 

“Why would you get into bestiality?”: Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) grilled Patel on a recent policy change regarding bestiality. The FBI shifted its hiring practices to lift a longtime ban on selecting new trainees if they have engaged in prostitution or bestiality.  

Patel acknowledged he had some reservations when the change was suggested. “But they then explained to me and showed me cases in which people were forced into it and had applied........

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