Homeland Security Watchdog Omitted Damaging Findings From Reports

[Duncan Grant]

Source: NYT

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general and his top aides directed staff members to remove damaging findings from investigative reports on domestic violence and sexual misconduct by officers in the department’s law enforcement agencies, according to documents obtained by The New York Times and two government officials familiar with the inquiries...

The draft report also described a pattern of the agencies using cash payments, with payouts as high as $255,000, to settle sexual harassment complaints without investigating or disciplining the perpetrators. But senior officials in the inspector general’s office objected to that finding, suggesting in written comments that it be removed from the report, which has never been published…

Mr. Cuffari, a Trump appointee who has served as inspector general since July 2019, has previously blocked investigations, against his staff’s recommendations. He blocked inquiries into the Secret Service’s role in the violent dispersal of protests against police brutality outside the White House in 2020, and on the spread of Covid-19 at that agency. He also delayed an inquiry into whether senior agency officials demoted an employee who criticized the Trump administration...

The investigations into sexual misconduct and domestic violence took place as law enforcement agencies within the department — particularly the Border Patrol, which is part of Customs and Border Protection — struggled to recruit women and advance them into leadership positions. They followed high-profile incidents of sexual misconduct over the past decade.


Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/07/us/politics/homeland-security-inspector-general.html

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It’s far worse than these four paragraphs detail. Worth a read and bookmark, imho.

[underpants]

1. Almost 1/3 of respondents said they suffered sexual harassment

The sexual misconduct inquiry, which started before Mr. Cuffari took over as inspector general, included a 2018 survey of employees at the department’s police agencies. Out of roughly 28,000 respondents, more than 10,000 said they had experienced sexual harassment or sexual misconduct in their workplace.

Of those who had experienced sexual harassment or misconduct, 78 percent said they did not report the incident.

The draft report cited more than 1,800 employee allegations of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct perpetrated by other federal employees from October 2011 to February 2018 across the department’s police agencies, including instances of “surreptitious videotaping in bathrooms, unwelcome sexual advances and inappropriate sexual comments.”

[Baitball Blogger]

2. No one is surprised.

[lagomorph777]

3. He's got to go. And face criminal investigation.

[erronis]

4. Better get him prosecuted before he might be pardoned in 2025.

[catrose]

7. Why is he still there? Can't Biden get rid of him?

[Rebl2]

9. My question too

[ffr]

5. You know what would be really great?

If someone threw the book at fuckers who do stuff like this. I mean go after them to the nth degree. FOR ONCE!

It would appear we need to disconnect the IG's line of command with the CiC or put in place mechanisms to keep the independence of the IG Holy. The fact that a corrupt person such as TFG and his Russian enablers in congress could take over control of such departments and bastardize them into self-images of their corruption, should never be allowed.

Fixed this problem before it's too late!

[calimary]

10. Consequences are WAAAAAAY overdue.

Seems like nobody in a position to do something about that is willing to take that next step anymore.

[BlueIdaho]

6. I'm beginning to think

The whole organization is so corrupt the best thing to do would be to dismiss everyone and start over from scratch.

[multigraincracker]

8. In police jargon, that is called

"Professional Courtesy”.
I call it a violation of the 14th Amendment.