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U.S. Lawmaker Alleges DOJ Paid Millions to Suspended FBI Agents
(MENAFN) The U.S. Department of Justice has disbursed millions of dollars in settlements to suspended FBI agents facing misconduct allegations, Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin charged Tuesday.
In a letter directed to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Raskin wrote: "It has come to our attention that you have used your office to improperly shower government cash on (President) Donald Trump's political operatives and sycophants, beginning with corrupt seven-figure 'settlements' for disgraced Trump officials."
Raskin's letter sought further details on several specific deals, among them settlements involving an agent disciplined for refusing to investigate a white nationalist group, and another accused of unlawfully entering a restricted area during the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Attorney Tristan Leavitt, who represents the agents, rejected Raskin's framing of the cases, dismissing the congressman's concerns as "more a toddler's temper tantrum than serious congressional oversight," according to the Washington Post.
Several payments referenced in the letter involve agents who have publicly maintained their suspensions were politically motivated under former President Joe Biden's administration. Raskin noted that in multiple instances, the agents' claims had neither been litigated in court nor completed the FBI's internal disciplinary appeals process before the DOJ agreed to settle.
"These checks are just political handouts and payoffs," wrote Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. He further charged: "The DOJ and FBI have already paid out several million dollars of taxpayer money to disgraced agents and employees who violated their professional and legal duties to the government."
The letter detailed settlements with five agents who, Raskin said, received a combined sum exceeding $230,000, with some individuals also collecting backpay reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars in certain cases. Raskin acknowledged additional settlements existed beyond those specifically identified in his message to Blanche.
All five settlements cited Tuesday had previously been disclosed in August by Leavitt and his organization Empower Oversight, which represented numerous suspended agents throughout negotiations with the DOJ and FBI.
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