Whistleblowers Say Hundreds of FBI Agents Resigned to Escape Sexual Misconduct Allegations

A top Republican senator revealed whistleblower allegations and internal Justice Department records showing that, in an effort to avoid being held accountable, hundreds of employees at the FBI either resigned or retired from the bureau after being accused of sexual misconduct.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) made his findings public in a Thursday letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, stating that the allegations and records “paint a disgraceful picture of abuse that women within the FBI have had to live with” for years.

“Lawful, protected whistleblower disclosures provided to my office include allegations and records that show hundreds of FBI employees have retired or resigned because of sexual misconduct allegations against them and that they did so in order to avoid accountability,” Grassley said. “This abuse and misconduct is outrageous and beyond unacceptable.”

WRAY GRILLED BY GRASSLEY ON “DEEPLY ROOTED POLITICAL INFECTION” AT FBI

The Republican senator said he was not making the whistleblower documents public due to concerns about unlawful retaliation. He added that the facts “make clear that female employees are the primary victims.”

Grassley also cited an internal, unclassified Justice Department document from the Office of Disciplinary Appeals titled “Retirements and Resignations During Unwelcome Sexual Conduct Adjudications” with data through Dec. 23, 2020. The DOJ reviewed the FBI’s disciplinary case database, Javelin, “to observe patterns and offer recommendations.”

The results of that DOJ investigation found that, from 2004 until the end of the review, 665 FBI employees, including 45 Senior Executive Service-level employees, “have retired or resigned” following an FBI or DOJ inspector general investigation “into alleged misconduct, but prior to the Office of Professional Responsibility’s issuance of a final disciplinary letter.”

Grassley said that although the text of the document was limited to “alleged misconduct,” it has been relayed to his office “that the data involved an element of sexual misconduct.”

“Of those 45 SES-level employees, there is only one instance where an SES-level employee retired or resigned after the FBI or DOJ-OIG completed an investigation into an alleged violation of … Unwelcome Sexual Conduct, but before OPR issued a final decision letter, (former SAC James Hendricks),” the internal DOJ report added.

The DOJ inspector general found that Hendricks, a retired FBI special agent who was in charge of the agency’s field office in Albany, New York, sexually harassed eight female subordinates.

On Thursday, Grassley demanded a host of details from the Justice Department and FBI and called on them to take the matter seriously.

“Simply put, these two documents show a systemic failure within the Justice Department and FBI to protect female employees from sexual harassment and sexual misconduct in the workplace and a failure to sufficiently punish employees for that same misconduct,” Grassley said. “FBI employees should not have to suffer under daily abuse and misconduct by their colleagues and supervisors.”

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The FBI responded to Grassley’s findings on Thursday.

“The FBI looks critically at ourselves and will continue to make improvements. The bottom line is, employees who commit gross misconduct and sexual harassment have no place in the FBI,” an FBI spokesman told the Washington Examiner, adding, “We prioritize investigation and adjudication of sexual harassment and misconduct cases, and when allegations of sexual harassment are substantiated, FBI employees face severe consequences, including permanent demotion, removal from supervisory ranks, or termination.”

The DOJ’s review was spurred by a report by the Associated Press, which found in December 2020 through DOJ watchdog reports, federal lawsuits, and witness interviews that there were “at least six sexual misconduct allegations involving senior FBI officials over the past five years,” including two claims brought in 2020 “by women who say they were sexually assaulted by ranking agents.”