January 1, FBI Whistleblowers: Hundreds of Agents Have Resigned to Avoid Accountability

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
1957: A fire at the Windscale nuclear plant in Cumbria, England becomes the world’s first major nuclear accident.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) revealed that hundreds of FBI employees have either retired or resigned to “avoid accountability” from sexual misconduct allegations.

Grassley, a top Republican senator, outlined his findings in a letter addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray. The lawmaker said the bombshell allegations and internal records from the Justice Department “paint a disgraceful picture of abuse that women within the FBI have had to live with” for years.

“Lawful, protected whistleblower disclosures provided to my office include allegations and records that show hundreds of FBI employees have retired or resigned because of sexual misconduct allegations against them and that they did so in order to avoid accountability,” Grassley said. “This abuse and misconduct is outrageous and beyond unacceptable.”

Grassley cited an internal, unclassified document from the DOJ’s Office of Disciplinary Appeals titled “Retirements and Resignations During Unwelcome Sexual Conduct Adjudications.”

The investigation found that between 2004 and 2020, 665 FBI employees, including 45 Senior Executive Service-level employees, “have retired or resigned” following an FBI or DOJ inspector general investigation “into alleged misconduct, but prior to the Office of Professional Responsibility’s issuance of a final disciplinary letter.”

Grassley said the aforementioned “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.”

“FBI employees should not have to suffer under daily abuse and misconduct by their colleagues and supervisors,” he added.

Source: Washington Examiner