I come to the floor today to bring attention to three brave Department of Homeland Security whistleblowers - Mark Jones, Mike Taylor, and Fred Wynn.
These three whistleblowers came to my office to report retaliation and government misconduct. People like this ought to be considered heroes, instead of like skunks at a picnic, as sometimes whistleblowers are treated by our bureaucracy. The retaliation has been extensive and long-enduring.
In 2018, these whistleblowers made legally protected disclosures to the Office of Special Counsel and Customs and Border Protection.
They legally disclosed information about delays and the failure to collect DNA from detained illegal immigrants based on the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005 and subsequent regulations.
An August 21, 2019, letter from the Office of Special Counsel to the President substantiated their disclosures, stating, “The agency’s noncompliance with the law has allowed subjects subsequently accused of violent crimes, including homicide and sexual assault, to elude detection even when detained multiple times by Customs and Border Protection or Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This is an unacceptable dereliction of the agency’s law enforcement mandate.”
I don’t know how you can get a stronger statement from a nonpolitical division of our government about information not being properly used to stop wrongdoing.
After making their protected disclosures, all three whistleblowers were retaliated against. And that gets back to my skunk at a picnic analogy, about how whistleblowers are treated by the bureaucracy. They aren’t treated as the patriots they should be treated as. All they want is for the government to do what the government is supposed to be doing.
From February 2018 through the present, Customs and Border Protection officials subjected these whistleblowers to significant changes in duties, responsibilities and working conditions. That’s how you get treated if you’re a whistleblower.
After harsh retaliation, Fred Wynn left Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Intelligence to work for United States Border Patrol doing management and program analyst work.
Mr. Jones and Mr. Taylor didn’t receive a performance award any year after their disclosures for the first time in their employment history at Customs and Border Protection.
They had an overall reduction in pay and have been removed from their supervisory positions, negatively impacting promotional opportunities. Once again, like [skunks] at a picnic.
The Office of Special Counsel also identified an intentional non-promotion for Mr. Jones.
Additionally, Customs and Border Protection removed credentials, law enforcement authorities, firearms and law enforcement retirement coverage from Mr. Taylor and Mr. Jones.
The removal of one’s firearm and one’s credentials is the ultimate act of personal and career retaliation against federal employees.
I’ve been told that Mr. Jones and Mr. Taylor discovered that one senior official who was aware of their ongoing retaliation refused to commandeer their firearms and credentials without a letter from senior officials...
Customs and Border Protection officials refused to provide the letter. The senior official who refused to participate in this retaliatory scheme then was involuntarily transferred out of his law enforcement position and stripped of premium pay in July 2023.?So, another person retaliated against.
The Office of Special Counsel said its investigation supports a conclusion that the government action against these three whistleblowers constituted prohibited personnel practices.
To put it plainly, the government violated federal law and retaliated against these brave whistleblowers.
On August 18 this year, I sent a letter to Secretary Mayorkas and the current head of Customs and Border Protection, Troy Miller.
I asked what they’ve done to correct the retaliatory actions and take disciplinary action against the retaliators.
Now, as you might expect, both have failed to respond. This is not uncommon.
When these people come up for [Senate] confirmation, we always ask them if they will answer our letters and phone calls or come and testify before Congress. They always say “yes.” In the end, I tell them, if you want to be honest, you ought to say “maybe.”
But, instead of responding to Congress, Mr. Miller’s Customs and Border Protection provided a public comment to the New York Post on August 22, 2023: “The Office of Special Counsel terminated its investigation into these claims without issuing a Prohibited Personnel Practice Report or seeking corrective action.”
Now, the Office of Special Counsel told my staff multiple times that they did in fact seek corrective action with Customs and Border Protection.
Customs and Border Protection’s public comment is then a lie, or demonstrably false.
On September 11 of this year, I sent a follow up letter to further address their failure to protect these whistleblowers and demand a public retraction.
Secretary Mayorkas and Mr. Miller failed to respond.
But, again, Customs and Border Protection provided a public comment to the New York Post, saying about my letter, “This is a mischaracterization of this issue based on incomplete records, and we are unable to comment further based on open litigation regarding these cases.” Something bureaucrats regularly hide behind, with a quotation like that.
On September 27 of this year, I wrote another letter to Secretary Mayorkas and Mr. Miller demanding they explain their second inaccurate public comment.
Customs and Border Protection, but not the Department of Homeland Security, provided a response on October 17.
That letter said: “The Office of Special Counsel didn’t issue a final report finding a prohibited personnel practice and didn’t initiate corrective action litigation before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) on the petitioners’ behalf.”
Did everyone catch that distinction?
The public comment said “corrective action.”
The letter said “corrective action litigation.”
Corrective action can take many forms, and doesn’t always include litigation.
For example, negotiating with the parent agency to put a whistleblower in the position they were in before retaliation occurred.
Customs and Border Protection’s attempted sleight of hand has failed.
Customs and Border Protection’s letter makes clear its public comments are false and they were the ones to offer mischaracterizations to the public.
Secretary Mayorkas has failed to take action despite my oversight efforts.
Mr. Jones, Mr. Wynn and Mr. Taylor are still struggling from the many acts of retaliation that have been taken against them for speaking up to protect Americans.
But this senator won’t stop fighting for them and the dozens of other whistleblowers that have come to my office.
There must be accountability for what’s happened to these patriotic Americans.
I yield the floor.
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