WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley today asked the State Department and a lead agency watchdog group to provide all records that would document how and why the State Department went more than five years without a permanent inspector general. Grassley cited several examples in which a later, permanent inspector general found the lapse compromised agency oversight.
“Every agency needs a permanent, independent inspector general,” Grassley said. “The position is too important to assign to a placeholder. An acting inspector general doesn’t have the mandate to lead, and he or she might not be able to withstand pushback from an agency that doesn’t want to cooperate with oversight.”
Grassley said going for more than five years without a permanent inspector general at the State Department is “egregious.” That covers the entire four-year tenure of Secretary Hillary Clinton, the only secretary of State to have served without a single permanent inspector general overseeing the department since the creation of that watchdog position in 1957.
“The Obama Administration should answer for why it allowed that to happen,” Grassley said. “There’s been no transparency on the reason for the lack of an appointment for so long. We’ll never know the extent of the damage to good governance caused by this lapse, but it’s fair to say some of the problems exposed lately probably could have been prevented with a permanent inspector general in place.”
The White House allowed the position to be “temporarily” filled by an individual with demonstrated close ties to the officials he was charged with overseeing. The work of the subsequent, Senate-confirmed inspector general provides insight into some of the problems that arose from the previous unusual arrangement. The permanent inspector general reported that aides to Clinton contributed to an “appearance of undue influence and favoritism” in departmental investigations of three allegations: that the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium allegedly solicited a prostitute; that a department manager allegedly engaged in sexual misconduct and harassment; and that Cheryl Mills, then chief of staff and counselor to Clinton, allegedly unduly influenced an investigation of an unauthorized release of communications concerning a nominee for a U.S. ambassadorship.
Grassley cited an example in his own investigation where a permanent inspector general might have investigated thoroughly and shielded whistleblowers who alleged they were retaliated against for reporting to an acting inspector general sexual misconduct at the U.S. consulate in Naples. Also, the permanent inspector general for the State Department and the permanent Inspector General for the Intelligence Community have recently uncovered problems in the way Clinton handled emails containing classified information, Grassley said.
Grassley sought correspondence and information from Michael E. Horowitz, chair of Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, and Secretary of State John Kerry. Grassley is a long-time advocate for agency inspectors general.
His letter is available here.