Trump is busy picking out his roster for the cabinet. But this might just steal his attention away.
Because the FBI was caught covering up information that could change Trump’s second term.
Everyone knows the Swamp was not drained after Trump’s first term, unfortunately.
Bureaucratic appointees gummed up his crusade once, but it isn’t going to happen again.
And now he may have a new target.
Because a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reveals that the Department of Justice (DOJ) left FBI employees uninformed for seven years about enhanced whistleblower protections enacted by Congress in 2016.
According to the GAO, the DOJ delayed critical updates to regulations under the FBI Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2016, which expanded protections for FBI employees reporting misconduct.
These protections, among other provisions, granted FBI staff the right to make protected disclosures directly to supervisors within their chain of command.
The GAO’s findings indicate that, prior to the DOJ’s regulatory updates, some FBI employees faced obstacles when attempting to report issues through protected channels.
The report also noted a substantial increase in the DOJ’s processing of FBI whistleblower retaliation complaints, closing five times more cases from 2018 to 2022 than during the prior review period of 2009 to 2013.
Yet despite this, the DOJ has reportedly failed to notify FBI employees of their rights to appeal retaliation complaints to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, as different DOJ components have varied interpretations of the statute.
“Statutory changes in fiscal year 2023 provide FBI employees with rights to seek relief from the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board,” the report stated.
“However, the amendments contain ambiguities — such as when determinations and corrective action orders are considered final — creating challenges for DOJ in consistently interpreting the new rights. As a result, DOJ is unable to provide clear information to complainants of their rights.”
The GAO recommends clarifying the statute to ensure FBI whistleblowers can effectively exercise their rights to seek relief from the Protection Board.
This report follows another recent revelation from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who flagged cases of FBI whistleblowers whose security clearances were revoked in retaliation, blocking them from appealing outside the DOJ.
According to the GAO, the DOJ’s Inspector General has processes in place to review allegations of retaliatory security clearance actions, including suspensions, revocations, and denials.
However, the GAO noted that the DOJ’s mandatory training fails to inform employees of their right to appeal retaliatory actions to the Inspector General’s office.
Additionally, the GAO criticized the DOJ’s policy on reviewing security clearance-related retaliations, calling it inconsistent with current statutes.
The GAO report recommends updating the DOJ’s mandatory training to inform FBI staff of their right to seek review and corrective action through the Inspector General’s office.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
