Whistleblowers reveal FBI’s massive problem with sexual misconduct

Hundreds of FBI employees avoided discipline for sexual misconduct by retiring or resigning amid investigations from 2004 to 2020, according to Department of Justice records obtained by Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Whistleblower documents revealed that 665 FBI employees, including 45 senior executives, left their jobs following investigations into alleged sexual misconduct before they could be disciplined, according to Grassley. Higher ranking officials were subjected to less severe penalties than other staff, according to the documents.

“These two documents show a systemic failure within the Justice Department and FBI to protect female employees from sexual harassment and sexual misconduct in the workplace and a failure to sufficiently punish employees for that same misconduct,” Grassley wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray. “FBI employees should not have to suffer under daily abuse and misconduct by their colleagues and supervisors. Congress has an obligation to perform an objective and independent review of the Justice Department’s and FBI’s failures and determine the accuracy of the data contained in the documents so that the American people know and understand what, if any, changes have been made to solve these significant problems.”

The data may undercount the number of misconduct-related resignations during this period since it doesn’t include employees who resigned before investigations began, according to Grassley. – READ MORE