Q: Why was a college student awarded $4.1 million in a settlement with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)?
A: In 2012, a 20-year-old college student from the University of California-San Diego was found locked up in handcuffs in a DEA detention cell five days after he was mistakenly arrested. He had received no food or water for the previous 120 hours. Such mistreatment at the hands of federal authorities underscores the very real problem that the American people have with the federal government. For more than two years, I sought answers and accountability from the DEA through letters, congressional hearings and speeches on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Although the student received a financial settlement in the case, it turns out the agents responsible for the mistreatment received slaps on the wrist, including brief suspensions and letters of reprimand. Other episodes of misconduct by DEA agents include distributing drugs and cavorting with prostitutes in Colombia while on assignment. Internal investigations of misconduct reveal the absence of meaningful discipline that keeps wrongdoers on the DEA's 11,000-person payroll. This reflects the big picture problem that Washington fails to see. A pervasive culture of mismanagement is embedded from one end of the federal bureaucracy to the other. A string of misdeeds from the FBI, to the Secret Service, the U.S. Marshals Service and the DEA tarnishes the nation's institutions of federal law enforcement and essentially undermines confidence in their authority. Unless and until heads roll, the credibility gap with the American people will continue to widen if misconduct, misspending and mismanagement goes unchecked. When wrongdoing takes place, Washington's gut instinct is to stonewall, stall and sweep mistakes and misbehavior under the rug. And when federal law enforcement holds itself above the law, how can we expect society to respect the rule of law? As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I'm continuing my crusade to conduct robust oversight of the sprawling federal bureaucracy so that the taxpaying public stands a better chance of a government that functions as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Q: What problems have you identified at the U.S. Marshals Service?
A: Thanks to courageous whistleblowers who came forward to expose wrongdoing, I have learned about wasteful spending, employee retaliation, cronyism and fiscal corruption with the misuse of asset forfeiture funds. It seems to me that a federal law enforcement agency can find more appropriate ways to serve the public than spending $22,000 on a conference table, buying 57 square feet of top-of-the-line granite countertops, or outfitting executive offices with private baths and showers, as an example. After raising many questions with the U.S. Justice Department on these matters earlier this year, the department at last referred the numerous whistleblower allegations to the Inspector General, which has received similar disclosures of waste, fraud and abuse at the Marshals Service. Just recently, the Justice Department internal watchdog found that a senior official violated ethics rules and misused public office for favoritism in promotions and awarding government contracts. Although the head of the agency announced her retirement this summer, my investigation into improper hiring and other allegations of wrongdoing at the U.S. Marshals Service will continue. That's because bad management at the U.S. Marshals Service weakens its mission to protect federal judges, track fugitives and run the Witness Security Program. When it comes to saving tax dollars and making sure the government works for the people, not the other way around, I'll keep digging for answers and rooting out wrongdoing to help restore the public trust. With 94 districts located around the country, the mission of America's first federal law enforcement agency, is to "protect, defend and enforce the American justice system." I'll continue working to restore the integrity of this agency that has served the American public since 1789.
Q: Why is it key to protect the work of whistleblowers?
A: Without information provided by those working on the front lines within the sprawling federal bureaucracy, it would be virtually impossible to uncover all the places where tax dollars are squandered or when self-interest trumps the public interest. As a longtime champion for advancing whistleblower protections, I work to plow through an entrenched bureaucratic mindset that treats whistleblowers like skunks at a Sunday afternoon picnic. Indeed, the bureaucracy gets pretty creative at muzzling truth-tellers by delaying and denying their due process. In March I conducted a congressional hearing to examine retaliation of whistleblowers at the FBI. Incredibly, an independent Government Accountability Office report found it took the FBI between 8 to 10.6 years to close some cases brought by whistleblowers in the agency. That's one way to silence the truth. The FBI is the nation's premiere law enforcement agency. That doesn't let it off the hook from following the rule of law. Unfortunately, the FBI falls far short of basic legal protections for its employees who report wrongdoing. Whistleblowers provide a valuable public service by helping to expose and deter waste, fraud and mismanagement. Securing fundamental protections for whistleblowers will help uphold the highest standards of integrity and ethics for good government. Keeping my nose to the grindstone, I work to let whistleblowers know that I've got their backs. When someone comes forward with credible information that exposes wrongdoing that defrauds taxpayers, breaks the law, undermines constitutional rights or puts public safety or national security interests in harm's way, I'm all ears.
