The wheels of justice don’t always move forward at a lightening clip. Indeed, sometimes the speed is down right glacial, and in this instance they are still turning. Such was the case of the FBI employees who were recalled amidst romps with prostitutes in 2018. Three years later, the FBI’s Office of Inspector General quietly issued it’s “Investigative Summary” which details the “Findings of Misconduct by then FBI Officials for Soliciting, Procuring, and Accepting Commercial Sex while on FBI Assignment Overseas, Lack of Candor to the OIG, and Related Misconduct.” The report’s findings have been provided to the FBI and the Department of Justice for action.
Don’t give a foreign intel service a stick to beat you with
There is no denying that the actions of the individuals provided foreign intelligence services who may have been monitoring their transgressions a stick upon which to beat them. When they “procured commercial sex” (FBI’s OIG’s words), then failed to report foreign contacts, and then proceeded to dissemble on the topic of their misdeeds, these actions demonstrated that they had broken trust with their employer (the FBI). To this trained eye, they now had a secret which they wished to keep from their employer. Yet at least a few foreign nationals were aware (the prostitutes), and thus they are perceived as vulnerable in the eyes of many an adversary of the United States.
While the 2018 publicity touched on the engagement with prostitutes, what wasn’t revealed is that one of the individuals also delivered a packet of 100 white pills (again the OIG’s words) to another FBI official for delivery to a foreign law enforcement officer.
Attorney General Holder summed it up in his 2015 memo to all Justice Department personnel (see below), “not only because it invites extortion, blackmail, and leaks of sensitive or classified information, but also because it undermines the Department’s efforts to eradicate the scourge of human trafficking.”
case(s) to the FBI for “appropriate action”
- Four of the six solicited, procured, and accepted commercial sex, and a fifth solicited (apparently didn’t do the dirty deed) — all in violation of DOJ and FBI policies.
- Four of the six “lacked candor” about their misconduct during “OIG compelled interviews and compelled
polygraph examinations, in violation of FBI policies, and that one of those officials made false statements in an OIG
compelled interview and compelled polygraph examination in violation of federal law, when the official denied having
engaged in sex acts with a prostitute.” - Five of the six failed to self-report their violation of FBI policies
- Five of the six failed to declare foreign national contact and relationships, again in violation of FBI policies
- The OIG investigation further found that all five officials failed to report their own misconduct and the misconduct of others in connection with the procurement of commercial sex, all in violation of FBI policies.
- The sixth individual was found to have failed to report the actions of his/her colleagues about which they were aware.
- They violated the 2015 Attorney General Memorandum, on the “Prohibition on the Solicitation of Prostitution (1-page pdf”
The OIG summary concludes with, of the five who engaged with prostitutes, “two resigned, two retired, and one was removed.” The penalty for engaging with prostitutes according to the 2015 memorandum is the possibility of suspension or termination.
So what Should happen to them?
While we don’t know what is going to happen to them, precedents exists to:
- Strip them of their eligibility for national security clearances going forward, given their lack of trustworthiness;
- Prosecute them for their lying to a federal law enforcement officer
- For those who retired, review forfeiture of retirement and return of their contributions.
What can’t happen is to allow the report to be quietly filed away.
For those going abroad, this ODNI video series should be mandatory viewing: “Know the Risk – Raise Your Shield – Travel Awareness.”
