House homeland security oversight subcommittee grills agencies on ethics lapses

House homeland security oversight subcommittee grills agencies on ethics lapses

By Andrew Matarrese
05/18/2012

WASHINGTON — Top leaders from federal agencies under fire for a growing laundry list of ethical violations skipped a House oversight subcommittee hearing Thursday, drawing the ire of both Republicans and Democrats looking for answers.

DHS says there have been 43 indictments, 108 arrests and 55 convictions arising from internal department investigations so far this year.

Some investigations include federal employees colluding with drug traffickers, gunrunners and people attempting to enter the country illegally.

“It is unfortunate the Department of Homeland Security, in the face of such serious ethical mishaps, refuses to provide witnesses from leadership to discuss these matters in open before the American people,” said Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul.

McCaul chairs the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Management, which called the hearing to examine ethical lapses in the department and its agencies.
Massachusetts Rep. William Keating, the subcommittee’s ranking Democrat, noted the tremendous costs associated with maintaining America’s homeland security apparatus and the “enormous personal intrusions” citizens have to go through when they fly.

The requested witnesses’ failure to show up “says something about how seriously they’re taking the issue,” Keating said, “or how not seriously they’re taking this issue.”

Committee members praised U.S. Customs and Border Protection for sending its acting deputy commissioner, Thomas Winkowski, to the hearing. The subcommittee had asked for policy-level leaders from the other agencies.

An agency representative said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director John Morton and his deputies were unavailable due to scheduling conflicts.

The Transportation Security Administration did not respond to multiple requests from The Daily Caller for information about why administrator John Pistole was unable to attend the hearing.

Representatives and witnesses covered a litany of ethical lapses and scandals that have plagued DHS.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement intelligence chief recently pled guilty to taking part in a kickback scheme that cost the government more than $600,000. In February another ICE agent pled guilty to 21 counts of obstruction and corruption violations related to illegally obtaining and disseminating government documents.

On 19 separate occasions, one Customs and Border Protection officer used his own security credentials to smuggle money and weapons for a drug cartel. Complaints against the agency’s employees have increased by 38 percent since 2004.

A 22-count indictment alleges four current and former Transportation Security Administration screeners took bribes and looked the other way while suitcases filled with cocaine, methamphetamines or marijuana passed through X-ray machines at Los Angeles International Airport.

McCaul noted the national security implications of the discussion.
“This is precisely what the terrorists are looking for,” he said. “All these cases that we look at … they’re trying to get things through airports. Improper screening. Improper documentation. That’s exactly what they’re trying to exploit.”

Read more: House subcommittee grills DHS on ethics lapses | The Daily Caller

U.S. CBP Agents Team Up With Mexican Drug Cartels
May 22, 2012
Judicial Watch

In a troubling admission to Congress, a high-ranking official from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has revealed that the agency charged with protecting the nation’s borders is plagued with internal corruption that could put the U.S. at risk.

What sort of corruption? The federal agents who are supposed to safeguard America against terrorists and instruments of terror are teaming up with Mexican drug cartels and alien smugglers, according to Customs and Border Protection Deputy Commissioner Thomas Winkowski. The shocking acknowledgement was made by Winkowski at a recent hearing before the House Committee on Homeland Security.

In the last eight years, 138 agents from CBP have been charged with corruption and more than 2,000 have been charged in other criminal cases, according to Winkowski’s testimony before the panel. The purpose of the hearing was to address ethical standards within the DHS and its various agencies. Winkowski was there to inform the panel about CPB’s efforts to address issues concerning corruption and misconduct among its employees.

As America’s frontline border agency, CBP has more than 60,000 law enforcement officers and support personnel along the U.S. borders, ports of entry and overseas. This includes 21,370 Border Patrol agents responsible for securing nearly 6,000 miles of Mexican and Canadian international land borders and more than 2,000 miles of coastal waters surrounding Florida and Puerto Rico.

The overwhelming majority of CBP officers serve with honor and integrity, Winkowski said, but a small minority have “disgraced the agency and betrayed the trust of the American public” by engaging in illegal and unethical behavior. That “small minority” is never the less enough to compromise national security. In fact, CBP is starting to conduct lie detector tests on its new hires and current workforce.

Some apply to work at the agency in order to help drug trafficking organizations move huge amounts of narcotics into the U.S., Winkowski admitted. “In some cases I believe that their sole purpose in wanting to become a Customs and Border Protection officer or Border Patrol officer is to infiltrate us,” he told the congressional Homeland Security panel.

This frightening disclosure comes on the heels of a federal report that said DHS determined the Border Patrol achieved its “goal” by gaining “operational control” over a mere 13% of the nation’s borders. That means the feds have the ability to detect and interdict illegal activity in just a snippet—1,107-mile range—of the nation’s foreign borders. Yet this is considered mission accomplished for the U.S. government.

U.S. CBP Agents Team Up With Mexican Drug Cartels | Judicial Watch