State Department memo reveals possible cover-ups, halted investigations

The State Department has hired an alarming number of law-enforcement agents with criminal or checkered backgrounds because of a flawed hiring process, a stunning memo obtained by The Post reveals.

The background problems are severe enough that many of the roughly 2,000 agents in State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security can play only limited roles in agency efforts to police bad conduct and prosecute wrongdoers.

“Department intakes of new . . . officers since the hiring surge a decade ago have reportedly been flawed, with ‘mitigation’ of troubling histories including criminal matters,” according to a December 2012 memo to State Deputy Inspector General Harold Geisel from a team leader in the IG’s Office. The memo goes on to state that the troubling backgrounds can pose a problem if the agents are needed to testify at trials to assist prosecutors.

“Too many people entering the [Diplomatic Security and Information Management] communities end up as subjects of [Special Investigation Division] investigations and HR adjudications, become Giglio-impaired and can play only limited roles thereafter,” according to the memo. “Giglio” refers to a US Supreme Court case dealing with jury notification that witnesses have made deals with the government to induce testimony. Some Diplomatic Security field offices “have major problems just waiting to be discovered,” the memo adds.

A 2012 letter to State’s labor-management negotiator from the union for foreign-service agents, also obtained by The Post, asserts a pattern of “questionable tactics and unprofessional conduct” by Diplomatic Security agents. In one case, aggressive interrogation techniques by Diplomatic Service agents drove an employee to attempt suicide when accused of raping his maid in Bangkok, Thailand, the memo suggests. The employee maintained the sex was consensual.

But after “being told he would end up in a Thai prison, his wife would lose her job and his children would be pulled out of school, [the man] attempted suicide by jumping out of the 16th-story window at a hotel in Bangkok,” said the memo. “Fortunately, he landed on a tarp on the 10th floor and sustained minor injuries.”“It depends on what team you’re on, whether they like you or not,” he said. The rape charges were ultimately dropped.

The memo sites eight cases involving Diplomatic Security agents who resort to “false, misleading or incomplete statements in reports,” “privacy-act violations” or “lack of objectivity” in investigations. Cary Schulman, lawyer for former IG investigator-turned-whistleblower Aurelia Fedenisn, said Diplomatic Security agents are “wrongfully overly pursuing some people” but letting others have a “free pass.”

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Sarcogito said:

Let me know when a progressive Democrat actually runs for President and I might vote for him or her. So far I have only seen corporatist Democrats in that seat.

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Among the information he requested includes the IG memo cited in the original CBS News story; all documents and communications related to the memorandum; drafts, comments and edits of any IG reports related to the memorandum; all documents and communications related to IG report, including transcripts of interviews, notes and meetings; and all documents and communication between IG employees and State Department employees that "reference the removal of references to any DSS investigations from the OIG report referenced in the June 10, 2013, CBS News report." He asked that the information be provided by June 26 at the latest.

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Jen Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman, said Monday the department would look into any possible criminal activity and that "diplomatic security has taken the further step of requesting an additional review," though she did not confirm any of the details in the memo.

Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed a review of the IG investigative process, and said he takes that process "very seriously." But he reiterated that "all employees of this department are held to the highest standards of behavior, now and always."

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More than three-quarters of voters (78 percent) want Congress to continue to investigate the IRS. That’s a bit higher than the number that thinks Congress should continue to investigate the Justice Department seizing journalists’ records (76 percent) and the Obama administration handling of the attacks in Benghazi (73 percent).

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Rep. Elijah Cummings is backing away from his assertion that the investigation into the IRS scandal is “solved” and says he still wants to work with Republicans on the probe.

The controversy started on Sunday when he told CNN’s Candy Crowley “the case is solved and if it were up to me, I would wrap this case up and move on.”

Republicans immediately pounced and have kept up the pressure. “Your public comments that ‘the case is solved’ and that you would ‘wrap this case up and move on’ stand in stark contrast to the facts,” oversight committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) wrote to him in a letter Tuesday. “There is still much that we do not know about how and why certain applications for tax-exempt status were denied, delayed or otherwise received heightened scrutiny from the IRS.”

A Republican Oversight source said the panel plans to continue pointing back to the comments to argue that Issa’s Democratic partner is unwilling to work with him.

The question of who ordered the IRS to flag tea party and other conservative groups seeking a tax exemption is central to the multiple congressional investigations into the debacle. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), who is leading his own investigation, said Wednesday the practice didn’t start in Cincinnati, as the IRS has claimed.

Until Cummings clarified his statement, he appeared out of sync with other House Democrats who have said that the IRS investigation is far from complete. “The issue of how the IRS got to the point of trying to examine more closely selected applications for 501(c)(4) status — that I don’t think is done,” said Ways and Means member Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. “We still have more information to collect.”

Ways and Means ranking Democrat Sander Levin of Michigan also rejected the notion that the IRS investigation is winding down, noting that “the [Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration] is continuing their investigation, the Justice Department is continuing their investigation and the IRS is continuing their investigation.”

“I think there’s more work to be done,” Levin said. “I think that both Elijah and I both believe that. … I don’t think anybody thinks it’s over.”

In a brief interview with POLITICO on Wednesday, Cummings said that he was trying to argue that — contrary to some GOP comments — the investigation has proven the Obama administration didn’t order the IRS to target conservative groups applying for a tax exemption.

“The witch hunt needs to end,” said Cummings, who is the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “What I meant was the witch hunt.”

Cummings said the investigation isn’t over and he’s open to interviewing additional Cincinnati-based IRS employees and holding more hearings on the scandal.

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Sixty-two percent of voters say the government secretly collecting the phone records of millions of Americans is an “unacceptable and alarming invasion of privacy rights.”

That’s nearly twice as many as think it’s an “acceptable government action to help prevent terrorism” (32 percent).

Republicans (by 74-18 percent) and independents (by 67-26 percent) think the NSA surveillance of Americans is unacceptable. Democrats split: 48 percent say it’s acceptable, while 46 percent say unacceptable.

Views are similar on the U.S. Department of Justice monitoring certain reporters as part of its leak investigation. By a 34 percentage-point margin, more voters think the government’s seizure of journalists’ records was mainly done for political reasons (63 percent) as opposed to national security reasons (29 percent).

In general, when asked how much “trust and confidence” they have in the federal government, 37 percent of voters say they have a great deal (5 percent) or a fair amount (32 percent). Sixty-three percent say they have not much confidence (41 percent) or none at all (22 percent).

Meanwhile, the portion of voters saying the federal government is too big is growing: 64 percent feel that way, up from 56 percent in 2009. That’s more than double the number who feel government is the right size (29 percent).

The poll finds 35 percent think the Obama administration has been less open and transparent than previous administrations. That’s up 10 points since last year when 25 percent felt that way (June 2012). The change comes mainly from an increase in the number of Republicans (+16 points) and independents (+14 points) saying the White House is less transparent.

At the same time the number of voters believing the administration is more open and transparent has dropped to 24 percent down from 32 percent a year ago. This shift comes more from an across-the-board decline, as fewer independents (-14 points), Democrats (-8 points) and Republicans (-6 points) say this White House is more open than others.

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The Prof said:

the dumpster's deep

and dark



Fox News poll: Voters oppose NSA program, most lack trust in government | Fox News

even fox can't be off by 34

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Empirica said:

Please allow me to clarify, j-mac__You apparently have misunderstood where my sarcasm is coming from_

I am definitely not "laughing off the corruption of the IG system"_

I'm laughing at how such obvious IG corruption is being referred to as "possible corruption" by the MSM_

Unless I'm mistaken, I think we're in agreement here~ eace

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azgreg said:

He hasn't lost ALL credibility, but the shine on his star is starting to fade some.

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Grant said:

This is getting terrible serious! IRS Tea Party Intimidation An Echo Of Raids On Gibson Guitar - Investors.com

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... Under the agreement, Gibson will pay a $300,000 penalty, plus a $50,000 "community service payment" to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to help promote conservation of protected trees. Additionally, Gibson agreed to set up a compliance program to ensure it does not use illegally harvested products, and to forfeit its right to about $260,000 worth of wood and ebony seized in the investigation.

In return, the Obama administration will not charge Gibson criminally for violating the Lacey Act. That act amended the Endangered Species Act in 2008 to also provide for criminal penalties against the importation or use of illegally harvested plant materials ...

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justabubba said:

so, you are telling us that the tea party is as guilty as gibson
interesting perspective

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Gibson Guitar agrees to pay $300,000 penalty to settle Lacey Act violations - The Hill's Floor Action

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Grant said:

Did you read the article???



It seems you didn't even read the link you submitted!!

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Gibson agreed to set up a compliance program to ensure it does not use illegally harvested products

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justabubba said:

guess i have to spell out for you the significance of the excerpt i emphasized:
had gibson already been in compliance, it would NOT have to subsequently set up a compliance program
the US action to compel gibson to comply with the Lacey Act provisions was obviously necessary, which then indicates the enforcement action was not driven by political partisanship

but humor me. show us what factual basis you have to insist that gibson was not violating the Lacey Act and offer proof that enforcement actions were not due to violations of law but by partisanship
give us something other than unsupported, backward opinion to defend your ignorant assertions

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Gibson Guitar agrees to pay $300,000 penalty to settle Lacey Act violations - The Hill's Floor Action
But enforcement could only prompt House Republicans to press for legislation to scale back the requirements of the Lacey Act. In June, the House Natural Resources Committee approved the RELIEF Act, which would amend the law so that it does not apply to goods made in or imported to the United States before it took effect in 2008.

The bill, H.R. 3210, was sponsored by Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), who hails from the same state where Gibson's headquarters are located. It's also sponsored by three other Tennesseans, and 17 other House members.

In July, House GOP leaders indicated they were prepared to move the bill, even setting an amendment deadline for it in anticipation of possible floor action.
National Retail Federation Vice President Erik Autor said that while the settlement solves the specific issue with Gibson, it does not address the ongoing problems with the Lacey Act.

"Retailers — by and large — support the environmental objectives of Lacey, however this settlement vindicates retailers' arguments that the Lacey Act is being misapplied to foreign laws and regulations that have no relation to its noble environmental objectives," he said. "Today's action underscores the need to address the underlying problems of the Lacey Act, and demonstrates the need for a legislative remedy."

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The State Department investigator who accused colleagues last week of using drugs, soliciting prostitutes, and having sex with minors says that Foggy Bottom is now engaged in an "intimidation" campaign to stop her.

Last week's leaks by Aurelia Fedenisn, a former State Department inspector general investigator, shined a light on alleged wrongdoing by U.S. officials around the globe. But her attorney Cary Schulman tells The Cable that Fedenisn has paid a steep price: "They had law enforcement officers camp out in front of her house, harass her children and attempt to incriminate herself."

Fedenisn's life changed dramatically last Monday after she handed over documents and statements to CBS News alleging that senior State Department officials "influenced, manipulated, or simply called off" several investigations into misconduct.

After the CBS News made inquiries to the State Department about the charges, Schulman says investigators from the State Department's Inspector General promptly arrived at Fedenisn's door. "They talked to both kids and never identified themselves," he said. "First the older brother and then younger daughter, a minor, asking for their mom's place of work and cell phone number ... They camped out for four to five hours."

Schulman says the purpose of the visit was to get Fedenisn to sign a document admitting that she stole State Department materials, such as the memos leaked to CBS. Schulman says it was crucial that she didn't sign the document because her separation agreement with the State Department includes a provision allowing disclosures of misconduct. Furthermore, none of the materials were classified.

Schulman charged that sending law enforcement officers to pressure her into signing an agreement was heavy handed. "Why not simply mail it, courier it, send it Federal Express or deliver it by any other normal means by which one delivers a demand letter? Why send two federal law enforcement agents?" he asked. He also said that officials from the Inpsector General's Office told him they'd be having a "no kidding get together with the DOJ," implying to him that they would push criminal charges if his client didn't cooperate.

In discussing the chain of events with Kel McClanahan, a D.C. attorney who has represented several agency whistleblowers, McClanahan said the case smacked of intimidation.

"This type of intimidation technique is all too common when an agency wants something from you that it is not entirely confident it can get without your cooperation, and more often than not people who don't know any better fall for it," he told The Cable. "Regardless of what you may think of Fedenisn's motives, she worked for these guys for years and she knows their playbook ... I would have been shocked if she did anything except promptly hire a lawyer and call their bluff."

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The Prof said:

yesterday:

Exclusive: Whistleblower Says State Department Trying to Bully Her Into Silence | The Cable



no charges against a pedophile ambassador

but a whistleblower---watch out

chicago thugs have big shoulders

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Erod said:

You have to be delusional beyond recognition at this point not to see scandal oozing out of every pore of this administration.

EVERYBODY sees it. You can't play the denial game all day, but you're 100 feet under water and out of breath.

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