Former Department of Homeland Security Inspector General, Charles Edwards jeopardized the independence of the DHS office of the Inspector General, sought legal advice from the DHS Acting Counsel in violation of the IG Act, and delayed and altered reports at the direction of senior officials at DHS, according to a report by the Subcommittee that investigated the former Acting and Deputy Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security.
At the heart of the report were issues raised by "Whistleblowers" indicating that Edwards had ordered the removal of negative information regarding the Secret Service and White House staff's alleged involvement in the 2012 Columbia prostitute scandal.
You may recall that as many as "a dozen U.S. service members brought women, likely prostitutes, to their hotel rooms in Colombia and also allowed dogs to soil bed linens and building grounds shortly before President Obama arrived in the country for an April summit..." in 2012, according to a U.S. military investigation. A Daily Mail article filed in August of 2012 said that the military report "...revealed new details about the conduct of the service members during the prostitution scandal that engulfed both military and Secret Service personnel and deeply embarrassed the White House...Seven Army soldiers and two Marines have received administrative punishments for what the report called misconduct consisting 'almost exclusively of patronising prostitutes and adultery.'..."
Senator Ron Johnson said in a statement today that:
"...Initially, I was primarily concerned with the national security implications of United States Secret Service personnel hiring prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia in April of 2012. In the course of my oversight of that matter, however, my office began receiving whistleblower allegations that information was being removed and altered in the OIG’s Secret Service report of investigation in order to avoid embarrassing the administration in an election year. Since that time, dozens of allegations have poured into my subcommittee regarding Mr. Edwards’ conduct. The bipartisan investigation found that Mr. Edwards jeopardized the independence of the DHS OIG throughout his tenure there, sought legal advice from the DHS Acting Counsel in violation of the IG Act, and delayed and altered reports at the direction of senior officials at DHS. An Office of Inspector General is intended to be beyond reproach. The problems in that office were allowed to persist for far too long...”
Gretchen Carlson and Catherine Herridge at Fox News filed a report titled "DHS Watchdog Altered Reports as a Favor to WH Officials" that quotes Senator Johnson saying:
"...We found that Mr. Edwards was a compromised inspector general … who was not exercising real oversight. Any report generated out of his office would be suspect..." See that report HERE: FOX NEWS/THE REAL STORY
See the Committee's Full Report Here: PDF FILE
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