#inspector general

Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have requested that the Department of Justice's Inspector General open an investigation into Attorney General Pam Bondi's failure to release case files on the notorious sex offender in a manner required by law.

"We write as survivors of Jeffrey Epstein to formally request that the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conduct a review of the Epstein-related records already released pursuant to the Epstein Files Transparency Act and oversee all future releases to ensure full compliance with U.S. law and basic standards of survivor protection," the survivors wrote to Acting Inspector General Berthiaume on Wednesday. "The manner in which these materials were released reflects serious failures in redaction practices, survivor protection, and oversight. These failures have caused renewed harm to survivors and undermined trust in the institutions responsible for safeguarding sensitive information."

Well well well… Let me show you my surprised face 😶

Imagine that! Trump terminating the government watchdogs tasked with impeding corruption and protecting tax payer dollars. It’s just incredible that there is not ONE. Not f*ckin one Republican who would speak out and denounce this corrupt behavior. I guess that bastion of modern times, a man with his finger on the pulse of a new generation, the 90 something year old Chuck Grassley isn’t pumped about it…

It’s monsterously reminiscent of the war on fact checking. Who are the people that would protest fact checking? F*cking liars!!!

So why fire the civil servants tasked with defending the American people and the taxes they contributed? Because you intend to pillage the funds and engage in illicit activity.

If you can’t safely contact them in person, here are some other options for contacting your Senators:

Five Calls to your critters: https://5calls.org/

Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/

And another: https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php

The inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development was fired on Tuesday – one day after his office issued a critical report warning that nearly $500 million in food was about to go bad due to President Donald Trump’s freeze on the agency.

Paul Martin, who had been appointed inspector general for the agency by former president Joe Biden in 2023, was informed by email from the Office of Presidential Personnel that his position was terminated “effective immediately.”

It occurred one day after Martin’s office released a scathing report that warned more than $489 million worth of food assistance was at risk of spoilage after the Trump administration issued an unclear aid freeze guidance, ordered staff to refrain from “external communications” and placed more than 90% of USAID workforce on paid administrative leave.

The office said that while initial guidance provided a funding waiver for emergency food assistance, shipments were delayed globally because staff faced conflicting instructions and were concerned about breaking the order on external communications.

“According to USAID staff, this uncertainty put more than $489 million of food assistance at ports, in transit, and in warehouses at risk of spoilage, unanticipated storage needs, and diversion,” the report says.

The purpose of the inspector general is to conduct independent investigations and audits into any potential fraud, waste or abuse and issue recommendations of its findings – something slowly being replaced by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

After Musk asserted that USAID was “radical” and a “criminal organization,” the administration sought to all but formally dissolve the agency and merge it with the State Department to be overseen by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The administration has attempted to put thousands of workers on administrative leave and remove contractors who assist the agency. Though a federal judge has temporarily blocked the plan to place staff on leave, it’s clear Musk and Trump plan to follow through with their plan to make massive cuts to the agency.

For six decades, USAID has worked to fight starvation, fund education and work to end disease globally. The U.S. is the world’s largest humanitarian donor despite spending less than 1 percent of its budget on foreign assistance, according to the Associated Press.

Lawmakers have lambasted the Trump administration’s decision to dismantle the agency, claiming that may only be done by an act of Congress.

Organizations that represent USAID workers, companies that contract with USAID, and non-profits have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration, asserting that it does not have the authority to axe the funding that was expressly provided by Congress.

Martin’s termination is also subject to some regulations. The administration is required to provide Congress 30 days' notice before firing an inspector general and provide specific reasons for terminating watchdogs.

Here is their letter to the Director of Presidential Personnel:

Dear Mr. Gor:

I am writing in response to your email sent to me and other Inspectors General earlier this evening wherein you informed each of us that “due to changing priorities, your position as Inspector General . . . is terminated, effective immediately.”

As Chairperson of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), I recommend that you reach out to White House Counsel to discuss your intended course of action. At this point, we do not believe the actions taken are legally sufficient to dismiss Presidentially Appointed, Senate Confirmed Inspectors General.

Specifically, based upon the 2022 amendments to the Inspector General Act of 1978, the President must notify Congress 30 days prior to removal of an IG and provide “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons” for such removal. 5 U.S.C. § 403(b), as amended by the section 5202(a) of the Securing Inspector General Independence Act of 2022 (Title LI, Subtitle A, of P.L. 117-263, 136 Stat, 2395, 3222). The requirement to provide the substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons, was added to better enable Congress to engage on and respond to a proposed removal of an Inspector General in order to protect the independence of Inspectors General.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5146229-senate-dems-usaid-firing-inspector-general-shaheen-peters/