By Steve Neavling
Sen. Chuck Grassley is calling on the Justice Department’s internal watchdog to investigate reports of the FBI mishandling complaints of sexual misconduct within its ranks, he announced Wednesday.
The action comes nearly two years after the Associated Press reported that at least six high-franking FBI officials have been accused of sexual misconduct in the past year, and none had been disciplined.
Since then, the Iowa Republican said a whistleblower provided him with previously undisclosed records showing that at least 665 employees have left the FBI to avoid discipline amid sexual misconduct investigations between 2004 and 2020. The records also suggest that high-ranking FBI officials received lighter penalties than lower-ranking employees.
In a letter last week to Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz, said the “allegations and records paint a disgraceful picture of abuse and misconduct within the FBI.”
“FBI employees should not have to suffer under daily abuse and misconduct by their colleagues and supervisors,” Grassley wrote in the letter. “Accordingly, I am requesting that you immediately open a review of the Justice Department’s and FBI’s management of sexual misconduct claims, including how many employees who separated from federal service before the resolution of an investigation received the required notice in their personnel file, the apparent failure to ensure the Javelin database includes full and complete data, and the unequal application of disciplinary rules.”
