Charles Lutz is a retired DEA Senior Executive. This column was written for ticklethewire.com
By Charles Lutz
Things in Washington are seldom what they seem. The media has portrayed the forced retirement of DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart as the result of agents in Colombia holding parties with prostitutes paid for by Drug Cartels, and the lenient punishments they received. As outrageous as their conduct was, it’s not likely the cause of her untimely departure.
A Congressional Hearing plowed that ground last week, only to discover that the events in Colombia happened long before Michele Leonhart’s tenure as Administrator, and that when it did come to her attention she referred it to DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for investigation. But the OIG said they were too busy and sent it back to DEA to handle. So apparently in conjunction with the FBI, the DEA conducted an investigation and submitted the findings to their Board of Conduct and Deciding Officials to mete out punishments in conformance with Civil Service rules. Congressmen criticized the DEA Administrator for not firing the agents, and seemed astonished to learn that Congress had not given her that authority. Civil Service rules require the heads of agencies keep an arm’s length from the disciplinary process or risk reversal by the Merit System Protection Board. And punishments are based on a formula for disciplinary action across government for similar offenses. So the only charge left standing was that DEA and the FBI neither cooperated fully nor in a timely manner with the OIG while reviewing the investigation.
What has not been mentioned by the media in this context is that Michele Leonhart has been an outspoken critic of marijuana legalization. She even had the audacity to criticize the President at the National Sheriff’s Association convention last year for his comment to The New Yorker Magazine that marijuana is no more harmful than alcohol (a statement that Mr. Obama retracted days later in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper that received little media attention).
Many were surprised that Leonhart had lasted this long. But the media has failed to connect the dots between her stand on marijuana and her forced retirement.
There is no doubt in my mind that the President was determined to use this incident in Colombia as cover to get rid of who he sees as a troublemaker, perhaps encouraged by marijuana legalization campaign financier, and close Obama advisor, George Soros. When the primary charges vanished under the light of a public hearing, embarrassed Congressmen saved face by citing their lack of confidence in the DEA Administrator for her lack of cooperation with the OIG.
And an undeterred Obama cited this same internal squabble within the DOJ, an argument between the DEA and the FBI with the OIG, to single out the DEA Administrator for punishment. Funny thing is the FBI Director didn’t get so much as a reprimand.
For whatever reason it happened, Michelle Leonhart’s departure was long, long overdue. Her public comments and professional behavior, especially in the past couple years, have shown she is out of touch with the President (you know, her boss), the public, the current science on the subject of cannabis and, in many cases, law enforcement. Her laughable conduct in front of Congress when she refused to say whether or not marijuana is more dangerous than heroin or alcohol should have been grounds enough for her dismissal. then there is her behavior in concert with certain rogue US Attorneys (who should also be let go) who have also ignored the President’s and the USAGs lead on the subject and continued to raid dispensaries and growers in Med MJ states. Now lets hope that Mr. Obama will put his appointments where his mouth has been lately on the subject of pot and appoint someone whose views reflect the current cultural and scientific thinking about cannabis. That appointment will be a real litmus test of how serious he is about reforming US drug policy.