Following the 9/11 Review Commission’s findings of inadequacies in the intelligence operations of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and related whistleblower complaints, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is asking the Justice Department’s Inspector General (IG) to investigate claims of nepotism and favoritism in an FBI surveillance program. Grassley raised concerns in a March letter to the FBI about alleged improper personnel decisions being made by officials in the FBI’s Mobile Surveillance Team (MST), which allegedly promoted unqualified staff based on personal connections. Since then, three additional whistleblowers have corroborated allegations of favoritism, nepotism, mismanagement and whistleblower retaliation.
In a letter to the IG, Grassley highlighted one example of a female FBI employee who allegedly had an affair with her unit chief, and was allowed to take taxpayer-funded flying lessons despite never being in a position of employment that would require such knowledge. MST also allegedly circumvented a process that requires the Attorney General to approve exemptions to fund its intelligence operations.
Grassley asked the Inspector General to investigate the claims and provide a report to the Senate Judiciary Committee. A signed copy of the letter may be read by clicking here.
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