Questions Arose After A Senior DOJ Official Reportedly Refused To Show Up For Inspector General Investigation Then Abruptly Resigned

According to an investigative summary by the Department of Justice, it found misconduct by a then senior official of the department after failing to appear for the IG interview. And it’s kind of weird. The official isn’t named, so the whole thing is rather mysterious.

During the course of an ongoing administrative misconduct investigation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) informed a then senior DOJ official, who was a non-career member of the Senior Executive Service, that the senior DOJ official was a subject in the investigation and that the OIG sought to interview the senior DOJ official in connection with the investigation,” the report states.

“After several unsuccessful attempts to schedule a voluntary interview with the senior DOJ official, the OIG instructed the senior DOJ official to appear for a compelled interview and informed the senior DOJ official that neither the answers the senior DOJ official provided nor any evidence gained by reason of those answers could be used against the senior DOJ official in a criminal proceeding.”

The report states that the official failed to appear, then abruptly resigned. he senior DOJ official failed to appear for the compelled interview and resigned from Department employment shortly thereafter,” the report states.

“The OIG concluded that the senior DOJ official violated both federal regulations and DOJ policy by failing to appear for a compelled OIG interview while still a DOJ employee. The OIG offered the senior DOJ official the opportunity to cure that violation by participating in a voluntary interview after leaving the Department, but the senior DOJ official, through counsel, declined to do so,” the report continues.

The individual may have resigned so that he couldn’t be compelled to be interviewed.

“The OIG has the authority to compel testimony from current Department employees upon informing them that their statements will not be used to incriminate them in a criminal proceeding. The OIG does not have the authority to compel or subpoena testimony from former Department employees, including those who retire or resign during the course of an OIG investigation,” the report states.

“The OIG has provided its report to the applicable DOJ leadership office and the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility for any action they deem appropriate,” the report adds.

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