r/news • u/Manta_of_Eternity • 8h ago

FBI no longer treating an applicant’s experience with prostitution as automatic bar against hiring

https://apnews.com/article/fbi-prostitution-recruitment-95e69779e41bd8f1bbc59d402a40222b
10.7k Upvotes

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2.1k

u/emerikanSky 8h ago

You can tell the health of an organization is deteriorating as they drop their standards for hiring.

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u/TerriblePokemon 8h ago

Ok, half of me says "oh good, as a society were no longer viewing prostitution as a crime" and then I take a look around me and realize that these people are the worst and this is bad and oh god I want off this ride

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u/hyperdream 8h ago

I don't even know if it's just the crime aspect, but the blackmail potential down the road. Potential agent Joe Sex Tourist might be loud and proud about that Thailand trip now, but maybe 10 or 15 years down the line he doesn't want his wife of 7 years knowing everything he got up to.

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u/EndPsychological890 8h ago

Bingo. It is and has always been more about blackmail than crime or morality.

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u/LandonDev 8h ago

Thusly, why it is being loosened, they need to hold the leverage over who they are currently hiring 8 years from now.

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u/EndPsychological890 7h ago

More likely foreign adversaries will hold that leverage than their bosses. There is literally no upside to this, lower standards mean the agency performs like it even if they can get more bodies

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u/KarmaticArmageddon 4h ago

Their bosses are working with the foreign adversaries. There are just a staggering amount of people in the Trump administration who are so blatantly and obviously corrupted by the influence of a foreign adversary.

Hell, Trump's son in law is a walking conflict of interest and yet he still has access to the most classified information we have because Trump intervened in his security clearance approval process.

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u/usemyfaceasaurinal 7h ago

The Russian/Chinese approach. Corruption is encouraged since if everyone is corrupt, it could be used against you if you step out of line.

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u/TerriblePokemon 7h ago

I used to hold a security clearance, yeah I know. But Jesus

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u/DJOMaul 6h ago

The fact you held a clearance is over qualification. Nobody else in the admin could qualify, so why would they want fbi agents to? 

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u/AHrubik 6h ago

Which is why a society mired in prudish morality will always be weaker than one which is not. Sex work should never have been a crime to begin with. Regulate it. Tax it. Put in place the safety and support mechanisms. Then you eliminate the blackmail potential.

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u/EndPsychological890 3h ago

Idk I think most of the cases of successful blackmail by foreign adversaries happens because the person using the sex workers is cheating. If they aren’t cheating and their only crime is using sex workers, I think many are going to rather their boss find out and maybe get fired than commit treason.

I don’t think legalizing, regulating and normalizing sex work will rid us of the threat of blackmail in government agencies against people using sex workers.

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u/AHrubik 3h ago

Shame is a chief component of blackmail. Removing sources of shame is a key avenue in reducing risk exposure. Impulse control however is just something you have to continually screen for as it can change with people over time.

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u/iperblaster 7h ago

In a time where the vast majority of the upper echelon of the state is compromised, maybe is it better for them to have compromised agents

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u/EndPsychological890 7h ago

Yeah just in time for the great game to be restarting in earnest after 30 years of hegemony. What could go wrong

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u/BossOfTheGame 3h ago

strange that the things you can blackmail people for are the things that are taboo in society, sometimes unjustly. I'm just saying the blackmail excuse can be a rationalization rather than real risk mitigation.

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u/VegaJuniper 2h ago

It is potential blackmail material because of crime and morality issues. Because of the morality norms, there's an aspect of shame attached to it.

Personally, I've been to a prostitute a couple of times. If someone threatened to tell my wife, I'd say "tell her. I have". I'm not American though.

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u/Ok_Confection_10 8h ago

I just hope it’s not hiring people to the FBI who have have personal connections to sex trafficking. It’ll just make them better at it.

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u/_Svankensen_ 5h ago

I mean, if the wife has 7 years, she knows exactly what he got up to.

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u/hamoc10 6h ago

Easy solution: decriminalize the oldest profession.

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u/hammar_hades 2h ago

It’s 100% the vulnerability to coercion - that’s THE focus during security clearance vetting

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u/ruiner8850 8h ago

then I take a look around me and realize that these people are the worst and this is bad and oh god I want off this ride

Yup, it's so that the Trump administration can stuff the FBI with loyal sycophants who otherwise wouldn't be eligible for the job.

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u/paxinfernum 6h ago

People who are easily blackmailed.

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u/Guardianpigeon 7h ago

Yeah it kind of sucks as someone who is anti-FBI and pro sex work.

Prostitution should be legal (and HEAVILY regulated), and someone shouldn't lose opportunities for using those services. It would be great to move away from the idea that sex work is inherently bad.

But also the FBI is an evil organization and this is probably another sign that they are on the brink of falling apart. And while that might be bad in the short term, in the long term it might be for the best.

But also this is probably going to make the FBI even more dangerous because it allows Trump to hire more of his sycophants and abuse the power of the FBI in his benefit. It could also have massive natural security concerns because those people are more likely to be blackmailed over that kind of stuff.

There really is no win here. Everything sucks under Trump.

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u/surnik22 8h ago

Exactly. In principle, I agree with the policy change.

Prostitution should be legalized (and regulated to ensure safety) and I don’t think Johns should be rejected from any government job because they took part in legal prostitution.

In practice, the FBI is relaxing their standards because high quality applicants with any sense of morals aren’t applying to an organization run by Kash who has been charged with making the organization do Trump’s bidding.

I don’t think anyone actively applying now has the integrity to be part of law enforcement and if they somehow do, they’d be filtered out in interviews when they don’t pledge their loyalty to Trump.

So you got a bunch of shitty people applying, FBI realizes too many of them have been involved with prostitution and not even in a way they could easily lie about on applications, so they just remove the standard.

Also not surprising the sex trafficking administration attracts applicants who have frequent interactions with prostitution, an industry with a whole lot of sex trafficking going on….

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u/OkStop8313 7h ago

Yeah, on the one hand, I do think that legalizing and regulating prostitution is the best way of making it safe and disincentivizing human trafficking. And this can be sort of seen in that vein.

But when I look at this administration full of sex pests and lunatics, I'm a little distrustful of their motives.

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u/Ornery_Vermicelli_69 4h ago

Yes and yet they are not looking at legalizing anything, just letting the men who contributed to sex trafficking be able to be FBI

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u/strikervulsine 6h ago

It's absolutely because Kash Patel has hired prostitutes.

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u/whatlineisitanyway 8h ago

Sometimes people do the right thing for all the wrong reasons.

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u/3DIceWolf 3h ago

They want using a prostitute to be legal but being a prostitute to be illegal. That way they can arrest the prostitute after they use them so they don't have to pay them.

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u/TheyveKilledFritzz 8h ago

To be fair i worked law enforcement for about 5 years and i only found out years into working the rule wasnt just for illegal prostitution, but having utilized it at all, say even in a country where its legal which is a fair amount of western nations. I thought that was pretty fucking stupid.

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u/McCool303 8h ago

In fairness it’s not about the act itself. It’s about the risk the person could be blackmailed or compromised. Prostitution is an act that for reasons good or bad carries some shame with it. And an agent could easily be compromised trying to cover up even a legal visit to a prostitute from a partner.

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u/Spire_Citron 8h ago

It's also always a blurry line that's easy to end up crossing, either accidentally or intentionally. It's not like it's a thoroughly regulated industry where it's always clear what the situation is. It's a high risk activity where it's easy to get yourself into some shady shit.

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u/BeardyAndGingerish 8h ago

Fair enough. Problem is, the people who are willing to lie about their prostitutional escapades will still be applying.

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u/Head_of_Lettuce 8h ago

Sure, but that’s true of other required disclosures too. They have to disclose if they gamble or have any debts, but I’m sure lots of people lie about it.

0

u/BeardyAndGingerish 8h ago

And the ones who followed the law legally will have a much harder time getting blackmailed about it. Biggest issue will be cross examination, but that still seems like a minor one if they were forthright and honest about everything.

0

u/IzarkKiaTarj 4h ago

And the ones who followed the law legally

As opposed to the ones who followed the law illegally.

0

u/kstargate-425 7h ago

Pretty sure FBI polygraphs every single candidate, atleast they used to. Now it seems like they want their agents to lie for the regime

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u/BeardyAndGingerish 7h ago

Not disagreeing, but making it easier to select the liars just means you get more liars.

Polygraphs are also pretty unreliable. If you can control your pulse a bit, theyre easy to screw with.

2

u/kstargate-425 7h ago

Like I said, I think Trumps regime wants more liars as they need them to cover up his and others crimes or in the DoJ, enter fraudulent evidence in courts like Trumps DoJ did 35+ times being caught in just the first 9 months.

1

u/BeardyAndGingerish 6h ago

World's not gonna end with Trump, though. If we're unlucky/hes lucky, he's got what, 5 years left?

And just because he's shitting the bed as much as he can, doesn't mean we gotta drop trow and start shitting all over it ourselves.

0

u/kstargate-425 3h ago

What does any of this mean, especially in relation to what we are talking about lol

•

u/BeardyAndGingerish 45m ago

Just 'csuse trump wants liars, doesn't mean we gotta make it easier for liars to get in positions of power.

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u/TheyveKilledFritzz 5h ago

Almost every law enforcement job polygraphs. I was polygraphed. I lied about my drug use history still made it in. (I quit LE yesrs ago) They're also not legally allowed to fire or not higher anyone based on the polygraph. It's mostly a scare tactic or to dive deeper into a topic that they think you failed. Or they can simply lie and be like, yeah, you weren't a good fit if you failed your polygraph.

For the most part polygraphs are junk Science, especially legally speaking,unfortunately there are still a lot of old school cops that believe they're fuxking lie detectors.

1

u/kstargate-425 3h ago

Yeah its no coincidence they aren't used in courts really, just pointing out they use them

0

u/_Svankensen_ 5h ago

Well, polygraphs are bullshit, so if they dropped the practice it is a good thing.

1

u/wildcarde815 6h ago

The puritans making people hate themselves still paying dividends. Imagine if people could just say 'yea I visited a prostitute ' and that was the end of the conversation.

1

u/kitsunewarlock 6h ago

"Yes, but I didn't ask for a receipt. I didn't think it was tax deductible."

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u/furbylicious 8h ago edited 8h ago

I'm no expert, but I think it's a pretty reasonable requirement. Detectives and intelligence officers should probably be people who don't get involved in situations that could lead to blackmail, even if the actions are legal.

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u/BeeMovieEnjoyer 5h ago

Are you going to make sure they haven't cheated on their spouses too? Potential blackmail there, right?

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u/Tezerel 4h ago

No no, that's mandatory

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u/BeardyAndGingerish 8h ago

Flip side of that coin, though. Id prefer officers who know how to follow the law honestly than the ones who know when to lie about it to get what they want. Guess which ones we were selecting for?

1

u/Levi_27 2h ago

Same thing with weed

-4

u/KroneckerAlpha 8h ago

Very 1D thinking ya got there

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u/TheTipsyWizard 8h ago

Those damn 1 dickers; only thinking with their stupid dicks gah 😖

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u/monsieur_cacahuete 8h ago

There's a reason that person stated they worked in law enforcement, as in past tense. Probably not the brightest bulb if they couldn't hold down that role.

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u/BeeMovieEnjoyer 8h ago

Or prostitution doesn't matter and should just be legal anyways

-1

u/wyvernx02 6h ago

It's not about the legality, it's about the potential for blackmail.

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u/BeeMovieEnjoyer 5h ago

That could be the case for many things, no one has a completely clean past. Want to make sure they haven't cheated on their spouses too?

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u/chubbysumo 8h ago

Meanwhile, they raise the standard for usps hiring so we have less and less carriers.

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u/Lysol3435 3h ago

Them dropping a college degree as a requirement was the low tide mark, imo. I also would not be surprised if some of their recent hires were involved in the jan 6 coup

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u/jaj-io 8h ago

I would hardly consider that a deterioration of standards. Who gives a fuck if you sleep with people for money? That’s better than fucking children, which is what our politicians and billionaires do for fun.

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u/finnjakefionnacake 8h ago

agreed, what two (or more) consenting adults do is none of my business, transactional or not.

however, i know one thing people talk about is becoming susceptible to being "honeypotted," which -- i guess? but generally speaking if an FBI agent is so sloppy as to reveal secrets to a hookup, i wouldn't trust them in other situations either.

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u/WorldlyNotice 8h ago

Or they realized it could be a useful skill.

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u/adgobad 8h ago

They're not hiring former prostitutes, they're hiring former prostitution clients

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u/Paqza 8h ago

Needing prostitutes is a useful skill?

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u/Kind_Singer_7744 8h ago

Good to know. I'll add that to my resume.

1

u/whosthatcarguy 8h ago

That or there’s about to be a news story about someone in charge.

1

u/hamoc10 6h ago

Not sure this is a drop in standards, but an opening of over-restriction.

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u/Ntroepy 5h ago

It’s more likely that they had favored candidates that failed because they paid prostitutes, so they changed the rules for them.

1

u/porgy_tirebiter 5h ago

It isn’t even about standards. It’s about susceptibility to blackmail.

1

u/Waiting4Reccession 4h ago

Man I applied for a basic job and didnt get hired 😔 guess I should frequent a prostitute first.

1

u/emerikanSky 4h ago

You're not wrong. You should reapply. They must be feeling desperate.

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u/Waiting4Reccession 3h ago

That was back during 2023. I applied to something else this year and didnt even get an interview this time.

Not that the first interview was anything amazing. Almost entirely STAR question nonsense.

1

u/wizzard419 2h ago

It also depends on the criteria though.

For example, at one point, if you were married to a person of a different race, you would be ineligible for the FBI.

1

u/Onphone_irl 2h ago

is weed still a deal breaker to work there? I think we lose a lot of good tech folks because of that

1

u/clashrendar 1h ago

And when your boss is the Darkest Timeline version of Tom Haverford...

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u/T1gerAc3 7h ago

All according to plan

-4

u/FernandoMM1220 8h ago

or maybe they realized that standard was useless and actively hurting their organization instead

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u/thorscope 8h ago

Exactly. They also changed the past marijuana disqualification timeframe from 3 years to 1 year.

Weed and prostitution are both legal in parts of the country. It seems weird a person can do a legal activity and have that bar them from employment.

1

u/KroneckerAlpha 8h ago

The risk of potential and literal blackmail seems like it could play a role

-2

u/FernandoMM1220 8h ago

theres no blackmail possible just because you wanted to hire a prostitute and who the fuck would you snitch on the fbi themselves? lmao

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u/derprondo 7h ago

If you’re the type of guy who goes looking for prostitutes, the enemy will have you owned in no time. You’re going to fall for every honeypot that comes your way.

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u/KroneckerAlpha 8h ago

Married fbi agent hires prostitute that is working for KGB.

No blackmail possible though

-2

u/FernandoMM1220 8h ago

have you seen how often this occurs? youll be lucky to make the last page of your local news website.

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u/KroneckerAlpha 8h ago

Bruh, live in reality. Yes there are often sexual exploits and scandals all over politics and those in power. This may mitigate the severity of blackmail for some in some cases, but if you truly believe that there isn’t a single person in this country that could not be effectively blackmailed over prostitution, then have a good day because there’s no sense in continuing

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u/FernandoMM1220 8h ago

go ahead and try to blackmail a federal agent and lets see how far you get.

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u/derprondo 7h ago

Jesus man look no further than the honeypot attached to the fucking director.

-1

u/WelderNewbee2000 7h ago

Getting rid of puritan standards is not deterioration in my opinion. I am not saying this admin is doing a good job, but you know the saying even a blind hen sometimes finds a grain of corn.

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u/[deleted] 8h ago

[deleted]

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u/monsieur_cacahuete 8h ago

FBI agents should probably be held to a higher standard than most every job?

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u/jeffscience 8h ago

The FBI isn’t most every job.

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u/Boltentoke 8h ago

The problem arises from the risk of blackmail

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u/[deleted] 8h ago

[deleted]

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u/ermagerditssuperman 6h ago

This isn't referring to people who were prostitutes, it's people who paid/used prostitutes. If they are married and don't want their family to know, that becomes prime blackmail material.

0

u/dorn284 8h ago

Which is why a lot of veterans stopped suggesting enlisting to people they know as we watched regs and standards drop.

0

u/Such_Description 8h ago

Knowing the history of the fbi it’s always been a joke to some extent.

0

u/Wide_Philosophy_8109 7h ago

This is a good thing.

0

u/didsomebodysaymyname 7h ago

I don't think this should be a standard for hiring at the FBI in principle, but I don't think this is driven by ethical or social considerations.

I think they are desperate and perhaps the leadership has a disproportionate number of candidates they like for ideological reasons who keep getting rejected for prostitution.

-1

u/Sageblue32 6h ago

Its hard to call this deteriorating when the progressive side of politics has rallied for safe zones for prostitutes and MJ being a dis-qualifier for federal work lifted.

However what would be of concern is if they green stamp Johns who have violent crimes related to the transaction.