Egregious wrongdoing

 

April 9, 2022

On Thursday, we published a really important investigation revealing an egregious lack of accountability with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for cases of sexual misconduct and domestic violence. Within hours of releasing our findings, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas sent a memo announcing a review of the department’s discipline process for employee misconduct. We’re pleased to see the agency recognize that its discipline process is failing, but this review alone is not enough to address the problems uncovered by our reporting. Congress must conduct oversight of the process for investigating and disciplining misconduct at DHS, and particularly Customs and Border Protection. DHS has promised investigations into CBP agent behavior before without following through, so it’s clear another body needs to step in and hold the agency accountable. Any review of the agency’s accountability system must also cover mistreatment of migrants, as it’s been well-documented that agents have faced few consequences for such abuses. We’ve also called on President Joe Biden to remove DHS Inspector Joseph Cuffari from his position. Our investigation revealed that Cuffari directed aides to scrub details from investigations on the agency’s discipline process for cases of sexual misconduct and domestic violence. Such revelations further call Cuffari’s independence into question, as it appears he’s tried to bury egregious wrongdoing within the agency he’s supposed to be holding accountable. FOR YOUR WEEKEND PLAYLIST The Continuous Action The first episode of POGO’s new podcast is out now. Catch Episode 1: The Wave, a discussion on the fight for voting rights, on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen now. INVESTIGATION Protecting the Predators at DHS Over 10,000 DHS employees claim sexual misconduct, and dozens of law enforcement agents who abused their domestic partners kept their government-issued guns, according to draft reports obtained by POGO. Read More TESTIMONY Reforms Needed to Enhance Rule of Law, Crack Down on Foreign Influence POGO testifies on how to counter undue foreign influence by strengthening the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938. Read More QUOTE OF THE WEEK “I want to state clearly that a ban on stock trading is not complicated.” Liz Hempowicz, Director of Public Policy, in Yahoo News WATCHLIST The logic is simple. Director of Public Policy Liz Hempowicz testifies on why we support legislation calling on members of Congress to divest. Watch a clip on C-SPAN. ONE LINERS “It bothered me when this sort of thing happened in the last administration and bothers me to see it happen in this administration.” Walt Shaub, Senior Ethics Fellow, in Washington Examiner   “It took hours for backup law enforcement to reach the Capitol. So it's important to know what was going on in the White House at that time and what efforts were being taken to respond. Without that information, it's very hard for that committee to do its job.” Tim Stretton, Director of the Congressional Oversight Initiative, in TheSkimm

pogo.org The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that investigates and exposes waste, corruption, abuse of power, and when the government fails to serve the public or silences those who report wrongdoing. We champion reforms to achieve a more effective, ethical, and accountable federal government that safeguards constitutional principles.

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