Inspector general finds politically motivated harassment at State Department
Some officials have been removed or have had most of their responsibilities taken away. About 50 others have left due to the management style.
I wonder if this is how purges begin, targeting and removing those considered "disloyal." Could this be just a couple of crackpots acting on their own, or could there be higher-ups involved in this kind of harassment? I wonder if it's happening in other departments and agencies.
WASHINGTON — A report by the State Department's inspector general concludes that leadership of a leading department bureau mistreated and harassed staffers, accused them of political disloyalty to the Trump administration, and retaliated against them.
In response to repeated counseling by more senior State Department officials that he address staff concerns, the report concluded, Kevin Moley, assistant secretary for international affairs, "did not take significant action."
The report, released Thursday, is a sweeping condemnation of Moley and more specifically of his former senior adviser, Mari Stull. A former lobbyist and consultant for international food and agriculture interests, Stull left the department in January following press reports that, among other things, she had compiled a list of staffers deemed insufficiently loyal to the Trump administration.
Stull and Moley, it said, "frequently berated employees, raised their voices, and generally engaged in unprofessional behavior toward staff," and reportedly moved to retaliate against those who had held their jobs under the previous administration.
Stull, it said, referred to some employees as "Obama holdovers," "traitors," or "disloyal," and accused some of being part of the "Deep State" and the "swamp" — terms that President Donald Trump has used to refer to federal employees. All of those so accused, the report said, were career staffers and not political appointees.
Some staffers said Moley accused them of "undermining the President's agenda," the report said.
Some officials have been removed or have had most of their responsibilities taken away. About 50 others have left due to the management style.
I wonder if this is how purges begin, targeting and removing those considered "disloyal." Could this be just a couple of crackpots acting on their own, or could there be higher-ups involved in this kind of harassment? I wonder if it's happening in other departments and agencies.