ALABAMA - Reports of misconduct by law enforcement agents including abuse of force, discriminatory and sexist treatment and, more recently, the misuse of taxpayer's money, have put U.S. federal agencies under major scrutiny.
The latest example took place last week, when the House Oversight Committee accused the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General of abuse of authority and substantial misconduct.
The panel that produced the report is a component of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, a government group dedicated to train and oversee inspectors general. It was first reported by POLITICO and later released by the committee to the public.
Joseph Cuffari, who was appointed by Donald Trump to his current charge a little over four years ago, allegedly misused taxpayer money to retaliate against employees in his office who questioned his qualifications.
The report adds that Cuffari spent almost $1.4 million in taxpayer dollars to have a private law firm investigate three members of his staff, "most likely for his 'personal' interest and in order to retaliate against them."
The report added that Cuffari misled Congress about his background during his confirmation process in 2019, with evidence "strongly suggesting" that he retired from his federal law enforcement officer job to avoid disciplinary measures against him. But when he was being confirmed as Inspector General for the DHS, he indicated that he had never left a job "by mutual agreement" following allegations of misconduct.
The House Oversight and Accountability and Homeland Security committees also said they did not investigate allegations that Cuffari diminished and delayed reports about sexual harassment at DHS, did not disclose to Congress in a timely and adequate manner that the Secret Service deleted text messages that could have been relevant to the January 6 investigation and deleted his own work-related text messages.
They chose not to pursue these allegations as it was unlikely further relevant information would be uncovered. Members of the committees, who are led by Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) said they expected resistance from key witnesses and doing so would have delayed the investigation.
The report was also accompanied by a letter to President Biden in which the CIGIE's Integrity Committee urged for Cuffari's removal from his inspector general post.
"The Integrity Committee makes the following recommendation: Referred for appropriate action, up to and including removal," the letter reads.
In case Cuffari's firing materializes, it could spark outrage from Capitol Hill Republicans who have previously praised him for investigating DHS's troubles vetting people evacuated from Afghanistan and its inability to monitor all unaccompanied migrant children released from federal custody after crossing into the U.S.
As the investigation unfolds, a few Republicans have already rallied around Cuffari, suggesting he is being targeted as punishment for criticizing the Biden administration.
Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) have said whistleblowers told them the investigation into Cuffari was inappropriate and potentially politically motivated.
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