WASHINGTON — Lawmakers expressed outrage on Tuesday at the punishments imposed on Drug Enforcement Administration agents who were accused of participating in sex parties with prostitutes while stationed in Colombia.
Representative
Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House
Oversight Committee, said in a hearing that the panel had begun an
investigation into a report by the Justice Department’s inspector
general that detailed allegations of sexual misconduct and the misuse of
government funds by 10 D.E.A. agents.
Seven of the agents admitted to participating in the sex parties, and those involved received suspensions of two to 10 days.
The
report was released last month, but the committee disclosed new
information showing that the misconduct had occurred as early as 2001.
Mr. Cummings said the report portrayed “a D.E.A. agency as completely
out of control.”
During
the hearing, lawmakers asked Michele Leonhart, the D.E.A.
administrator, why the offenses had not merited harsher penalties.
“When
we have bad apples who repeatedly do the same type of behavior,
compromise our national security, then they need to lose their national
security clearances and they need to be fired,” said Representative
Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican and the committee’s chairman.
Ms.
Leonhart told the committee that she did not have the power to fire
agents or revoke their security clearances over what Mr. Cummings called
“a truly breathtaking recklessness.”
“Honestly,
what power do you have?” asked Representative Trey Gowdy, Republican of
South Carolina. “You have to work with agents over whom you can’t
discipline and have no control. What the hell do you get to do?”
The
Justice Department reviewed allegations of sexual misconduct and
harassment within its law enforcement branches — the D.E.A.; the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the
Marshals Service — and found “some significant systemic issues” in all
four.
The
report described accusations from foreign police officers that D.E.A.
agents had attended “loud” parties with prostitutes over several years,
paid for by local drug cartels. The parties reportedly took place in
locations leased by the government where agents’ laptops and other
electronic devices were present. The foreign officers also said they had
watched over the agents’ weapons and other property during the parties.
Three agents were also accused of receiving money, expensive gifts and weapons from drug cartel members, the report said.
On
one occasion, an assistant regional director reportedly solicited
prostitutes for a farewell party in his honor, an allegation he denied
during an investigation by the agency’s Office of Professional
Responsibility; he was not disciplined because of a lack of evidence,
the investigation found. The party and the prostitutes were said to have
been paid for using government money.
According
to the report, local D.E.A. supervisors were aware of these parties
because of letters of complaint that they received from building
managers. They warned those involved to stop but did not report the
allegations to the agency’s headquarters, judging them a local issue.
The
report described another case involving a deputy marshal who received
only a verbal admonishment for allegedly soliciting prostitutes in
Thailand. Accusations of sexual harassment, including against a D.E.A.
official who was said to have used vulgar language and to have asked an
assistant to watch pornographic movies, were also described.
In
response to the report, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. issued a
memo on Friday reminding employees of the department’s firm stance
against soliciting prostitutes, even in countries where it is legal.
“I
want to reiterate to all department personnel, including attorneys and
law enforcement officers, that they are prohibited from soliciting,
procuring or accepting commercial sex,” he wrote.
The
Justice Department report came after a separate prostitution scandal
involving the Secret Service in 2012, which moved Congress to call for a
closer look at officials stationed overseas.
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