# Patel's Congressional Testimony, September 15

News · Heat 2.0 / 10 · 5 shows · 47m airtime

FBI Director Kash Patel testified before Congress on September 15, questioned about an Atlantic article and a June memo that dropped automatic disqualification for applicants who had stolen from employers, paid for sex, or engaged in bestiality. Patel defended the changes, said he is taking the article's author to court, and cited 54,000 violent criminal arrests, up 90 percent, and 31,000 gang members. Cory Booker called him an incompetent lackey. On October 15 the FBI rewrote its promotion system to reward violent crime, counterterror and counterintel results in an agent's district. Patel later said the FBI has an election crimes coordinator in all 56 field offices and would not pledge not to interfere at the polls. The loosened standards remain…

Page: https://boilpoints.com/point/patels_congressional_testimony_september_15_1833871965

## Segments

- [Morning Wire](https://boilpoints.com/u/morningwire), 2026-09-15, 1:46 to 3:28: **Covers Patel's testimony and the June memo**. Covers Kash Patel's congressional testimony, including Senator Peter Welsh's questioning about an Atlantic article alleging public intoxication and the June memo lowering FBI hiring standards. Patel says he is taking the article's author to court. New angle: A June memo dropped automatic FBI disqualification for applicants who had stolen from employers, paid for sex, or engaged in bestiality.
- [Morning Wire](https://boilpoints.com/u/morningwire), 2026-09-15, 3:32 to 3:53: **Recaps Booker's closing remarks at the hearing**. Booker's closing remarks at the Patel hearing: he calls the director an incompetent lackey and an embarrassment who wouldn't qualify as an agent. Reaction from the hearing room, staying inside the day's testimony. New angle: Cory Booker called Patel an incompetent lackey and said he would not qualify to be an FBI agent.
- [Morning Wire](https://boilpoints.com/u/morningwire), 2026-09-16, 6:04 to 7:45: **Adds Hawley's AI questions and the funding ask**. Adds the substance of the September 15 Senate hearing beyond the Atlantic article: Hawley's questioning on AI threats and Patel's request that Congress approve more money to monitor them.
- [The Megyn Kelly Show](https://boilpoints.com/u/themegynkellyshow), 2026-09-16, 2:41 to 9:24: **Adds Patel's arrest and fentanyl statistics**. Adds the hearing's own numbers: Patel's opening list of FBI statistics - 54,000 violent-crime arrests, 31,000 gang arrests, 3,258 kilograms of fentanyl, 11,081 child victims - plus the election-monitoring exchange with Welch and the Booker shouting match. New angle: Patel told the panel the FBI has arrested 54,000 violent criminals, up 90 percent, and 31,000 gang members.
- [The Daily Show: Ears Edition](https://boilpoints.com/u/thedailyshowearsedition), 2026-09-17, 7:17 to 16:38: **Covers the bestiality rule exchange and the pushback**. Covers Kash Patel's Senate testimony on the FBI dropping automatic disqualification for bestiality, including Durbin's question, Patel's answer that the rules predated him, and Kennedy's follow-up on the old regulations; Klepper argues it is a distraction from the Epstein files. New angle: Patel said the old FBI regulations automatically disqualified anyone who participated on either side of bestiality.
- [The Daily Show: Ears Edition](https://boilpoints.com/u/thedailyshowearsedition), 2026-09-19, 16:57 to 23:43: **Covers Patel's testimony on the FBI rule change**. Covers Kash Patel's Senate testimony on the FBI dropping automatic disqualification for bestiality, including Durbin's question and Kennedy's confusion over the old regulations.
- [The Dan Bongino Show](https://boilpoints.com/u/thedanbonginoshow), 2026-10-15, 9:51 to 27:18: **Rebuts a report inflating Patel's crime numbers**. Bongino reads and rebuts a Ken Delanian article arguing Patel's crime numbers are inflated because they fold in state and local arrests, then lays out the policy changes behind the shift: a rewritten promotion system, expanded task force officers, and reformed UFAP warrants and investigative manual. New angle: The FBI rewrote its promotion system to reward violent crime, counterterror and counterintel results in an agent's district.
- [Pod Save America](https://boilpoints.com/u/podsaveamerica), 2026-10-25, 38:44 to 41:18: **Plays the Welch exchange on FBI poll interference**. Plays the Welch exchange from the September hearing: Patel says the FBI has an election crimes coordinator in all 56 field offices and refuses to pledge non-interference at the polls. Holder says armed agents near polling places are barred absent a predicate and the remedy is court. New angle: Patel said the FBI has an election crimes coordinator in all 56 field offices and would not pledge not to interfere at the polls.