Patel defends lowering hiring standards related to prostitution, bestiality
Tuesday's hearing marked the first time that Patel has publicly addressed the new hiring standards related to prostitution, employment theft and bestiality.
Watch CBS News
Sarah N. Lynch is the senior Justice Department reporter for CBS News. She previously worked as the Justice Department correspondent at Reuters in Washington where she covered everything from the criminal cases stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to former special counsel Jack Smith's investigations into Donald Trump for his retention of classified records and his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Lynch has covered a variety of high-profile trials of public figures including Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro. In 2025, she documented the Trump administration's dismantling of its Public Integrity Section tasked with prosecuting public corruption, and the massive shift in the mission of the Civil Rights Division, leading to the exodus of approximately 75% of its staff. Prior to covering the Justice Department, Lynch covered the Securities and Exchange Commission and Wall Street regulations at both Reuters and the Wall Street Journal. The collapse of Lehman Brothers took place two weeks into her tenure at the Wall Street Journal, and she worked on a reporting team covering bank bailouts, the role that over-the-counter derivatives played in the housing crisis, and the passage of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.
Lynch holds a bachelor's degree from Barnard College and a Master's Degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she studied investigative reporting at the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism. She enjoys running, biking, lifting weights, cooking, theatre, music of all kinds and film. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, their daughter and their dog Chewbacca.
Tuesday's hearing marked the first time that Patel has publicly addressed the new hiring standards related to prostitution, employment theft and bestiality.
FBI Director Kash Patel was grilled for nearly five hours by both Democrats and Republicans about a string of recent negative headlines about the FBI.
Former CIA Director John Brennan was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in Florida as part of the "grand conspiracy" investigation into Obama- and Biden-era officials last week.
The case stems from a Cronobacter bacterial contamination at one of Abbott Laboratories' Michigan plants.
An Afghan permanent resident living in Texas has been deported after the Justice Department accused her of being an "alien terrorist," in the first such case of its kind.
Joe diGenova, the prosecutor who was tapped by Attorney General Todd Blanche to supervise the "grand conspiracy" investigation targeting Obama- and Biden-era officials, told CBS News he has resigned.
Andrew Tyler, who worked in the fraud section of the Criminal Division of DOJ, was removed Tuesday over allegations of ethical violations, sources said.
Zion Mitchell, 21, was arrested earlier this month and faces firearms and assault charges after he admitted he pointed his gun at a fellow National Guard member.
The Pentagon accused two of the Stars and Stripes journalists of insubordination after one of them had told "CBS Sunday Morning" in a July interview that she worked for Stars and Stripes, "not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker."
The BOP in July entered into an exclusive arrangement with a Florida startup that allows the company to sell federal prisoners nicotine pouches that are not authorized by the FDA.
A federal prosecutor in Minnesota who was investigating an ICE officer for possible civil rights crimes has been fired, four sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.
Federal prosecutors have charged an ICE officer who shot a Venezuelan immigrant in Minnesota with making false statements about the incident, sources said. He is now in custody.
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.
Josh Smith had a tense relationship with BOP's employees, and some staffers had raised questions about contracts awarded during his year-long tenure.
The shooting took place in January during the Trump administration's immigration operation in Minnesota.