Sen. Chuck Grassley is asking the Department of Justice’s Inspector General to investigate claims of nepotism and favoritism in an FBI surveillance program.
The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said in a March 26 letter to Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz that his concerns about the FBI’s Mobile Surveillance Team have grown over the past month.
The Iowa Republican wrote two scathing letters to the Department of Justice and FBI in early March after a whistleblower alleged that unqualified staff were being promoted based on their personal connections.
In the following weeks, three additional whistleblowers have stepped forward to corroborate “allegations of favoritism, nepotism, mismanagement and whistleblower retaliation,” he said in the letter.
“All three of these whistleblowers claim that they filed complaints with your office regarding these abuses,” he said. “One of these whistleblowers alleges that a female FBI employee who had an affair with her Unit Chief was allowed to take flying lessons on the taxpayer’s dime even though her career ladder does not include positions that involve flight operation. This whistleblower also alleges that this female employee was permitted to transfer to a coveted MST position in the Richmond office while another employee who had more experience in that capacity was not.”
• Maggie Ybarra can be reached at mybarra@washingtontimes.com.
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