Senator Chuck Grassley made the following comment after the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General released a summary of findings on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s alleged mistreatment and detainment of a University of California-San Diego student in 2012. Grassley began asking questions in May 2012, in a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and in questions for the record following a hearing of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control. Grassley’s letter to the DEA can be found here. The Inspector General’s findings can be found here.
“A public accounting of the reckless conduct by the DEA that almost led to Mr. Chong’s death in its holding facility in San Diego is long overdue. But in some ways, the Inspector General’s report raises more questions than it answers. For example, how is it that four DEA employees could have seen Mr. Chong during his five-day incarceration, and not notice something was amiss? The report also reveals that the agents responsible for this debacle violated DEA policy by attempting to initiate their own investigation into what happened. This is simply outrageous. I’ve been demanding answers for over two years about this incident. With the investigation concluded, I expect written responses from the DEA in short order, including the answer to whether and how anyone there will be held accountable for what happened to Mr. Chong.”
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