A Senator Chuck Grassley statement today alerts that he and Congressman Darrel Issa (Chairman of the House Oversight Committee) are asking the Department of Justice Inspector General to immediately investigate:
"...whether steps have been taken to prevent retaliation against whistleblowers in the Fast and Furious case by senior management of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in light of inflammatory comments by ATF personnel reported to the lawmakers’ offices..."The statement reveals that a letter sent to Michael E. Horowitz, the DOJ Inspector General, details:
"...hostile and extremely negative comments that were made last year about two of the main whistleblowers who testified before Congress, according to a direct eyewitness account. Grassley and Issa said they have just learned that the two whistleblowers have been placed under the supervision of the ATF official who reportedly made the comments, Scot Thomasson...Grassley and Issa said the fact that these alleged comments have been in public documents since May, and since the Inspector General should be “a firm, independent voice within the Department to protect whistleblowers from retaliation,” they’re asking the Inspector General to investigate how the ATF official has been admonished, how the ATF official was elevated and given such supervisory duties, and what steps are being taken to protect the whistleblowers from the campaign of retaliation the ATF official expressed a desire to conduct in his comments..."Senator Grassley and Congressman Issa write:
"Following yesterday's vote to hold the Attorney General in contempt of Congress, we are now concerned that the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) may be even more motivated to engage in acts of retaliation against the whistleblowers who brought this matter [Fast and Furious] to light. We just learned that ATF senior management placed two of the main whistleblowers who have testified before Congress about Fast and Furious under the supervision of someone who vowed to retaliate against them."The letter quotes Chief of ATF's Public Affairs Division, Scot Thomasson as stating:
"...We need to get whatever dirt we can on these guys [the whistleblowers' and take them down..."Grassley and Issa write that Thomasson was overheard saying:
"...All these whistleblowers have axes to grind. ATF needs to f--k these guys..."According to the Legislators, when he was asked if the whistleblower allegations were true, Thomasson purportedly said he didn't know and didn't care:
"...It is difficult to understand why ATF leadership would put two of these courageous whistleblowers at the mercy of an individual who made such reckless, irresponsible, and inaccurate comments about them 18 months ago...Since allegations about Thomasson's desire to retaliate against whistleblowers have been public since May 3, 2012, and since your office should be a firm, independent voice within the Department to protect whistleblowers from retaliation, please undertake a review to determine: (1) what steps the Department has taken, if any, to admonish Thomasson about such retaliatory remarks, (2) how someone who expressed Thomasson's contempt for whistleblowers was chosen to become the Division Chief of the Firearms Operations Unit and given supervisory responsibility over those very same whistleblowers, and (3) what steps, if any, are being taken to ensure that Thomasson does not use his new position to engage in a campaign of retaliation along the lines he expressed a desire to conduct last year..."The Letter to the DOJ Inspector General comes on the heels of Thursday's landmark decision by the House of Representatives to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress, and, as days earlier, Congressman Issa released into the Congressional Record, evidence from a sealed wiretap application, which Issa alleges contains information about DOJ upper echelon/management knowledge of the existence of fast and furious. (See items HERE and HERE)
