WASHINGTON TIMES
Sen. Charles E. Grassley warned the Justice Department to show evidence it implemented changes after an inspector general revealed the FBI retaliated against whistleblowers by revoking security clearances.
Mr. Grassley, an Iowa Republican who co-founded the Senate Whistleblower Caucus, wrote in a letter to Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco that the DOJ needs to overhaul its treatment of employees who flag wrongdoing at the bureau.
“The Justice Department’s failure to follow the law only serves to create a chilling effect on employees reporting wrongdoing out of fear they will have their security clearances suspended and indefinitely put on leave without pay, with little recourse to appeal the decision,” he wrote in the Friday letter.
He cited the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General’s May 9 memorandum that detailed abuse of the security clearance process, which would sideline agents and financially ruin them. The memorandum also recommended changes to bring agencies into compliance with the law.
Mr. Grassley noted that the FBI was widely mentioned in the memo for failure to comply with federal law (50 U.S.C. § 334) and the Director of National Intelligence’s Security Executive Agent Directive 9, known as SEAD 9.
These statutes protect federal employees who allege their security clearance was suspended, revoked, or denied in retaliation for making legally protected whistleblower disclosures.
The senator called on Ms. Monaco to provide details of the efforts the Justice Department and its components have taken or plan to take to fully implement the recommendations and explain the department’s failure to update its internal policies to comply with SEAD 9.
