Things Just Keep Getting Worse and Worse For The FBI in Light of IG Report
The Department of Justice Inspector General report that was released on Thursday continues to drop bombs on the FBI, exposing massive amounts of corruption, shady dealings, and pure incompetence in the federal branch of law enforcement.
Just to give you some context, former FBI Director James Comey was discovered to have used a private email server to conduct FBI business. This was the same guy investigating Hillary Clinton for doing the same thing during her time as secretary of state. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The report contains lots and lots more damaging material.
Folks working for the bureau probably didn’t think things could really get a whole lot worse, it now turns out that journalists and agents were exchanging gifts and doing so might be a federal crime.
A bombshell inspector general report released Thursday revealed that several FBI employees improperly received gifts from reporters, in connection with possible leaks of sensitive information.
Although public details of these exchanges are scant, they could constitute prosecutable violations of federal gift-giving rules.
The gifts in question included “tickets to sporting events, golfing outings, drinks and meals, and admittance to nonpublic social events.”
“We will separately report on those investigations as they are concluded, consistent with the Inspector General Act, other applicable federal statutes, and OIG policy,” the report reads.
Advertisement - story continues belowGifting rules for executive branch officials are strict and exacting. The U.S. Office of Government Ethics provides that “executive branch employees may not solicit or accept gifts that are given because of their official positions or that come from certain interested sources (‘prohibited sources’).”
The rules define a prohibited source as a person who:
Is seeking official action by, is doing business or seeking to do business with, or is regulated by the employee’s agency; or
Has interests that may be substantially affected by performance or nonperformance of the employee’s official duties.
Unauthorized contact with media personnel can actually result in the individuals involved in the activity being reassigned, suspended, or even fired.
And that’s in the non-criminal cases.
It’s disappointing to see how much personal politics has infected the realm of law enforcement, especially at the federal level, when these individuals are supposed to be upholding the law and approaching investigations with objectivity.
Sad.
Source: The Daily Caller
