America First Legal Initiates Investigation of Partisan Political Actors at the DOJ Inspector General’s Office
May 22, 2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) announced that it has initiated an investigation into the presence of politically biased employees within the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The DOJ OIG states that it is “a statutorily created independent entity whose mission is to detect and deter waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct in the Department of Justice, and to promote economy and efficiency in the Department’s operations.”
While all administrations have political personnel who come and go, OIG personnel—at least historically—carried the imprimatur of impartiality. The OIG has identified and admitted that its “preeminent challenge is to continue to strengthen public trust in the institution by ensuring that decisions and actions adhere to the Department’s foundational values of independence, impartiality, and integrity.”
However, recent reporting indicates a deviation from this ideal. According to The Federalist, DOJ OIG “is staffed by Democrat activists eager to use their power to crush their political enemies.” These reportedly overtly politically biased actors within the OIG suggest a potential lack of oversight over its impartiality and independence.
Gene Hamilton, Executive Director at AFL stated: “The American people deserve answers about the apparent rampant political bias that permeates throughout the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General. An office that employs individuals with clear political biases yet holds itself out to the public as being fair, objective, and impartial harms public trust in government institutions. If the ‘watchdog’ is a mere partisan bulldog, it does not deserve to exist. We will obtain and expose the truth to the American people,” Hamilton said.
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