The federal watchdog who reported the now infamous prostitution scandal at the Drug Enforcement Agency is accusing officials of stonewalling the investigation.
The probe released Thursday by the Department of Justice’s Inspector General, alleges that DEA agents had “sex parties” with prostitutes who were paid for by drug cartels abroad. Though it wasn’t in the report, some unnamed officials hinted that the parties occurred in Columbia where Secret Service agents were also accused of hiring prostitutes in 2010.
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On top of those striking allegations, the auditors reported that agency officials knew about the prostitute parties but failed to report them. The IG said that when they inquired, the DEA and FBI didn’t provide them with relevant information--prolonging their investigation and potentially leaving it incomplete.
“The OIG’s ability to conduct this review was significantly impacted and delayed by the repeated difficulties we had in obtaining relevant information from both the FBI and DEA as we were initiating this review in mid-2013,” the report said. “Initially, the FBI and DEA refused to provide the OIG with un-redacted information that was responsive to our requests, citing the Privacy Act of 1974 and concerns for victims and witnesses as the reasons for the extensive redactions, despite the fact that the OIG is authorized under the Inspector General Act to receive such information.”
Because of this, the IG suggested that there may be more to the story.
“Therefore, we cannot be completely confident that the FBI and DEA provided us with all information relevant to this review,” the report states.
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The probe was a part of a larger review of sexual harassment allegations within the DEA, FBI and other DOJ agencies. However, the IG said the agencies “did not always report allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct to their respective internal affairs offices as required by component policies.”
This isn’t the first time an IG has been blocked by the agency it’s tasked with investigating. In fact the problem is prevalent across the federal government.
Last August, a group of 47 Inspectors General sent a letter to Congress detailing a handful of similar instances in which federal agencies blocked their investigations by refusing to provide documents or access to relevant officials.
In response, a bipartisan group of lawmakers recently introduced legislation to strengthen the IG’s authority and allow them to have access to some agency data without having to get permission.
"We should not delay any longer. This bill gives inspectors general more tools to investigate agencies and ferret out improper payments, and it helps ensure the independence of our federal watchdogs," the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said in a statement.
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