DEA Chief Stepping Down in Wake of “Sex Parties” Scandal: Official
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Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call(WASHINGTON) — The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration is stepping down in the wake of a scandal over DEA agents who allegedly participated in sex parties in Colombia with prostitutes paid for by drug cartels and hosted in government housing paid for by U.S. tax payers.
An administration official told ABC News that a formal announcement about DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart’s decision could come as early as Tuesday afternoon.
Last week, she was in the hot seat on Capitol Hill, trying to explain to an outraged congressional committee why she could not fire the DEA agents involved.
Members of the House Oversight and Governmental Affairs Committee were flabbergasted by Leonhart’s admission that the majority of the agents who participated in sex parties “are still on the job.”
Some of the agents received light punishments, including between two and 14 days of suspension without pay, but civil service protections made it difficult for the director to take more significant disciplinary action.
“It is embarrassing that you don’t fire that person,” Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, admonished the director.
The allegations involved conduct that occurred between 2001 and 2012, some of which were revealed in a Department of Justice Inspector General report last week.
Unlike Secret Service Director Julia Pierson, who was appointed director after the 2012 Cartagena prostitution scandal, Leonhart has been director since 2007, during the time some of the alleged conduct occurred. However, Leonhart said she did not become aware that DEA agents were having sex parties in Colombia until after the 2012 Cartegena scandal, which uncovered similar conduct by DEA agents.
The Inspector General’s report focused on how the four enforcement agencies housed in the Department of Justice, DEA, FBI, ATF and U.S. Marshals Service, handled misconduct allegations. The report found that in many cases, DEA supervisors in the field did not notify headquarters about allegations of misconduct. One regional director who failed to move cases involving sex parties further up the chain of command was merely counseled as a reprimand for his actions.
Some members raised the possibility of amending the Title V of the Civil Service Act to allow for more swift and server punishment for sexual misconduct. However, Chaffetz questioned whether the charges leveled at the agents involved with prostitutes were appropriate, suggesting that different charges could have resulted in dismissal.
Two weeks ago, Attorney General Eric Holder took the unusual step of issuing a memorandum to all Department of Justice employees expressly prohibiting the solicitation of prostitutes on or off duty in any foreign or domestic jurisdiction.
“Department employees who violate these prohibitions will be subject to suspension or termination,” the memo states. Supervisors who fail to report such conduct are also subject to discipline.
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