House Democrats are concerned about possible interference with their investigation into the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, as he expressed gratitude to Republican leaders for confirming that he is not under investigation and stated that he is a whistleblower.
Democrats on the House’s Oversight Committee and Homeland Security Committee are focused on a series of correspondence with embattled Inspector General Joseph Cuffari.
In letters from August and February, Cuffari suggested he was not being investigated by the committees’ Democrats and explicitly thanked Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Homeland Security Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) for “confirming that I am not under investigation by your respective Committees.”
However, Cuffari is indeed under investigation by the panels’ Democrats who are looking into his failure to notify Congress of missing Secret Service text messages from Jan. 6, 2021, as well as the deletion of text messages from his own phone that should have been preserved. Additionally, he is being investigated for the office’s agreement to a $1.17 million settlement with a former employee. There are concerns about Inspector General Cuffari’s judgment and respect for congressional oversight, as per a letter from Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) to Comer and Green, which was obtained by The Hill. It is not clear what communications Cuffari had with committee Republicans, but his February letter criticizes Democrats for wrongly asserting that the committees were conducting an ‘investigation’ into his leadership. Green’s office did not respond to request for comment, while Comer’s office called the allegations “absurd.” The Oversight Committee majority is not currently investigating the DHS Office of the Inspector General, as stated by Comer’s office in a statement.
Green’s office did not respond, while Comer’s office denied the allegations and expressed willingness to discuss obtaining documents about Joe Biden in exchange for cooperation with the Democrats’ investigation.
Cuffari labeled his correspondence with “WHISTLEBLOWING DISCLOSURE – FOR COMMITTEE USE ONLY,” despite being ineligible as a whistleblower due to his role as the head of a department.
In his August letter, he also mentions his 'protected whistleblowing communications with Congress' about a separate investigation he is facing from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE).
Democrats questioned whether in claiming such status Cuffuri 'may be attempting (in vain) to shield himself from oversight' and prevent the release of his correspondence, which was also obtained by The Hill.
'Our staff made several attempts to communicate with DHS OIG to get clarification and explanation on the blanket use of this marking and to determine whether Inspector General Cuffari was attempting in this unusual way to make a whistleblowing disclosure to Congress. However, DHS OIG staff failed to respond to our staff’s direct inquiries,' Raskin and Thompson wrote.
'While the Whistleblower Protection Act prohibits retaliation against most executive branch employees for making protected disclosures or engaging in protected activities, Inspector General Cuffari is the head of a federal agency and is not covered by the Whistleblower Protection Act. His suggestion that our exercise of congressional oversight amounts to retaliation and his demand that you intervene are baffling and alarming and, to our knowledge, completely unprecedented.'
Cuffari in his most recent letter snubbed congressional Democrats, failing to reply directly to Raskin and Thompson and instead addressing his correspondence to Comer and Green.
It’s something Democrats called 'a blatant and surprisingly churlish attempt to obstruct our oversight and raises serious concerns about whether he is in any way capable of acting in an independent and nonpartisan way, as is required by law of an inspector general.'
'As Chairmen of our respective Committees, we urge you to reject this strange, unprecedented and petulant action by the head of an Office of Inspector General (OIG) and assure us that you do not intend to condone or encourage Inspector General Cuffari’s persistent failure to comply with our requests.'
Cuffari’s office did not respond to request for comment. The Hill has not received a response to numerous requests for comment from Cuffari’s office since September of 2022.
Cuffari, a former adviser on military issues for Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R), was nominated to his post by former President Trump in 2019, and has since faced
several investigations
into his leadership.
Raskin and Thomspon called on Cuffari to hand over his Jan. 6 oversight to another entity after obtaining emails showing his deputy at one point abandoned efforts to obtain missing Jan. 6 text messages and then minimized the issue in a memo to DHS leadership.
And in another eyebrow-raising moment he told lawmakers he regularly deletes his own text messages, despite requirements to preserve them. 'It’s my normal practice to delete text messages,' Cuffari said in a June hearing
, answering 'correct' when Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) asked if he does this on an ongoing basis.
Cuffari had also sued CIGIE in his personal capacity over their investigation into him, something that was
judge did not accept the case who concluded he did not show how the body’s investigation was illegal harassment.Raskin and Thompson are also investigating Cuffari’s $1.4 million contract with a law firm to look into former employees, including the woman who later received a $1.17 settlement after Cuffari pushed to move her to a DHS division that deals with countering weapons of mass destruction.
Under Cuffari’s leadership, DHS OIG, has chosen not to investigate major events involving the agencies he helps oversee or placed limitations on their scope. This includes deciding not to investigate after Border Patrol officers on horseback corralled Haitian migrants. Instead, the matter was given to its Office of Professional Responsibility. In 2020, he refused to start an investigation into the Secret Service’s involvement and response to the clearing of protesters who had gathered in Lafayette Square just outside the White House that June to protest the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police.
And a previous bipartisan letter from the Senate Judiciary Committee asked Cuffari about an unpublished report detailing widespread employee concerns over sexual harassment at DHS as well as a move by Cuffari to “substantially restrict” another report evaluating how the agency complied with a law requiring the removal of law enforcement officers with domestic violence convictions.
unsigned letter
from DHS OIG employees asked President Biden to remove Cuffari from his post.
“We need help. We can no longer be silent when faced with continuous mismanagement of DHS OIG at its highest levels,” they wrote in the letter.
“IG Cuffari has made clear that he wishes to remain in his position, even in the face of prolonged, deserved criticism in the media, from Congress, from other oversight entities and from his own staff.”
An House Democrats are expressing concern about potential interference with their investigation into the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general after he thanked Republican leaders for confirming he is not being investigated by the panels and claimed he is a whistleblower. Democrats on the House’s Oversight Committee and Homeland Security Committee focused on a series… from DHS OIG employees asked President Biden to remove Cuffari from his post.
“We need help. We can no longer be silent when faced with continuous mismanagement of DHS OIG at its highest levels,” they wrote in the letter.
“IG Cuffari has made clear that he wishes to remain in his position, even in the face of prolonged, deserved criticism in the media, from Congress, from other oversight entities and from his own staff.”
