An unnamed FBI supervisor subjected a subordinate to “an inappropriate sexual and religious joke and gesture in the workplace,” according to the Justice Department’s internal watchdog.
An investigative summary released Tuesday by the DOJ Office of Inspector General (OIG) identifies the official as a “then-acting deputy assistant director,” the first managerial level in the bureau’s hierarchy. No further details are provided about the accused or the accuser, their assignments, or their genders.
Investigators substantiated the allegations against the official, according to the two-paragraph summary, which says they “physically simulat[ed] a sex act while holding the subordinate’s arms.”
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“The OIG investigation further found the then Acting Deputy Assistant Director, when making the joke and gesture, physically touched the buttocks of the subordinate,” the summary states.
This violated both DOJ’s zero tolerance policy on sexual harassment, as well as the FBI’s policy against engaging in unprofessional conduct while on duty, according to the summary.
The OIG has provided its report to the FBI “for appropriate action,” it says.
In September, the OIG substantiated allegations against a former FBI special agent accused of making “an inappropriate and intimidating statement to a subordinate FBI special agent during a meeting with that agent and other FBI personnel,” according to an investigative summary which said the SAC’s actions were “intended to… instill fear in the subordinate agent.” The SAC retired while the OIG investigation was in progress, according to the summary.
In October, OIG investigators said they had substantiated allegations that “an FBI Senior Level Employee” had failed to report having had “close or continuous contact with this foreign national as required by FBI policy,” and that they “had solicited prostitutes on multiple occasions at various massage parlors” in the area. The OIG said it had received information that the senior level employee “may have paid for and/or received sexual favors at the foreign national’s massage parlor,” as well.
“The Senior Level Employee retired from the FBI prior to being contacted by the OIG for an interview,” the investigative summary in the case states. “When later contacted by the OIG for a voluntary interview, the Senior Level Employee declined to be interviewed… Federal and State criminal prosecution was declined.”
In November, the OIG found a “then senior official” at the FBI had “retaliated or threatened to retaliate against FBI employees for their participation in an earlier OIG investigation in which the senior official was the subject,” according to an investigative summary in the case. The official threatened to sue those who may have “provided negative information” about them to investigators, and pressed coworkers to share details about what they revealed during the probe, the summary states.
“The senior official resigned from the FBI after providing an initial interview to the OIG at the beginning of the OIG’s investigation,” it says.
Between 2004 and 2020, some 665 FBI employees under investigation for various forms of misconduct were permitted to resign or retire before any punishment could be handed down, according to a whistleblower who went public last year. Last month, the DOJ announced the introduction of a first-of-its-kind national database to document and track misconduct by federal law enforcement officers and agents. The tool, which will not be viewable by members of the public, is intended to prevent serious violators from being hired by other police agencies.
