Sen. Chuck Grassley said on Thursday that a whistleblower provided internal Justice Department documents, alleging 665 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) employees, including 45 senior-level workers, retired or resigned between 2004 and 2005 in order to avoid discipline for alleged sexual misconduct.
"Simply put, these two documents show a systemic failure within the Justice Department and FBI to protect female employees from sexual harassment and sexual misconduct in the workplace and a failure to sufficiently punish employees for that same misconduct," Grassley wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, and FBI Director Christopher Wray. "FBI employees should not have to suffer under daily abuse and misconduct by their colleagues and supervisors."
"Congress has an obligation to perform an objective and independent review of the Justice Department's and FBI's failures and determine the accuracy of the data contained in the documents so that the American people know and understand what, if any, changes have been made to solve these significant problems."
The first document is titled "Retirements and Resignations During Unwelcome Sexual Conduct Adjudications" and was produced by the Justice Department's Office of Disciplinary Appeals. It shows 665 employees Department Office of Inspector General investigated the alleged misconduct, but before the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) issued a final disciplinary letter.
The second document, titled "Inconsistent Adjudication of Non-Consensual Sexual Misconduct," shows the OPR issued "seemingly random penalties and disparate treatment."
"The only discernible pattern appears to be that higher-graded employees, especially supervisors, are more likely to have their sexual misconduct case adjudicated under Offense Code 5.22, and therefore subjected to lesser penalties; whereas, lower-graded employees are seemingly more likely to be adjudicated under Offense Code 5.20, and have a statistically greater likelihood of being dismissed for their sexual misconduct," the second document states. "This may give the appearance the FBI is not holding its supervisors accountable for unwelcome sexual conduct."
The Associated Press also reported in 2020 that they found "at least six sexual misconduct allegations involving senior FBI officials over the past five years":
"Each of the accused FBI officials appears to have avoided discipline, the AP found, and several were quietly transferred or retired, keeping their full pensions and benefits even when probes substantiated the sexual misconduct claims against them" AP reported. "Beyond that, federal law enforcement officials are afforded anonymity even after the disciplinary process runs its course, allowing them to land on their feet in the private sector or even remain in law enforcement."
What the heck is going on at the FBI?
