Joseph Cuffari | |
---|---|
Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security | |
Assumed office July 25, 2019 | |
President | Donald Trump Joe Biden |
Preceded by | Jennifer Costello (Acting) |
Personal details | |
Born | Joseph Vincent Cuffari 1959 (age 62–63) Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,U.S. |
Education | |
Joseph Vincent Cuffari is the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,serving since 2019. He previously held positions in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations,Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General,and as a policy advisor to Arizona Governors Jan Brewer and Doug Ducey.
Cuffari was born in 1959 in Philadelphia. [1] He enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1977,immediately after graduating high school. He served over 40 years in the Air Force including service on active duty,in the Air Force Reserve,and in the Arizona Air National Guard. [2] In 1984,he received a B.S. degree in business administration and management information systems from the University of Arizona. [1] [2] While on active duty he rose to hold leadership positions in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. [2]
Between 1993 and 2013,he worked for the Department of Justice,culminating in an assignment as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge for the Office of the Inspector General in Tucson,Arizona. [2] He received a M.A. in management from Webster University in 1995,and a Ph.D. in Management from California Coast University in 2002,an online for-profit university characterized as a "diploma mill" by the Government Accountability Office. [3] [ better source needed ] [4] Cuffari's government bio incorrectly claimed his PhD was in philosophy. [3] [ better source needed ] At the time he attended,California Coast University was unaccredited,but it has since received accreditation. [5] During this time he also worked for the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General. [1] [2]
He was a policy advisor for Military and Veterans Affairs for Governors Jan Brewer and Doug Ducey of Arizona. [2]
Cuffari was nominated by Donald Trump [6] and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) on July 25,2019. [2] Upon being confirmed he pledged to continue unannounced inspections of immigration detention facilities. [7]
Cuffari rejected his staff's recommendation to investigate what role the United States Secret Service played in the forcible clearing of protesters from Lafayette Square during the Donald Trump photo op at St. John's Church in June 2020. [6]
Cuffari also sought to limit the scope of the investigation into the spread of COVID-19 within the Secret Service,which had been attributed to the Trump Re-Election Campaign not following COVID guidelines. [8] [9] It was later reported that 881 employees of the Secret Service had been infected with COVID,more than 11% of the agency. [10]
Following Brian Murphy's September 2020 whistleblower complaint about Chad Wolf,Ken Cuccinelli,and Kirstjen Nielsen politicizing Department of Homeland Security assets to support the views of both Stephen Miller and Donald Trump,Cuffari began his inspector general (IG) investigation into alleged misconduct at Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after the November 2020 elections. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] The DHS Office of Intelligence &Analysis released no "intelligence products specific for January 6",2021,attack on the capitol. [18] On April 27,2021,Brian Volsky,the former head of the DHS inspector general's whistleblower protection unit,filed a memo with CIGIE accusing Cuffari,James Reede,who was the DHS IG counsel to Cuffari and Kristen Fredericks,who was Cuffari's DHS IG chief of staff,of mishandling Brian Murphy's complaints. [19] [20]
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security,roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism,border security,immigration and customs,cyber security,and disaster prevention and management.
In the United States,Office of Inspector General (OIG) is a generic term for the oversight division of a federal or state agency aimed at preventing inefficient or unlawful operations within their parent agency. Such offices are attached to many federal executive departments,independent federal agencies,as well as state and local governments. Each office includes an inspector general and employees charged with identifying,auditing,and investigating fraud,waste,abuse,embezzlement and mismanagement of any kind within the executive department.
The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General was established along with the Department of Homeland Security itself in 2002 by the Homeland Security Act. Its website describes its mission as "supervis[ing] independent audits,investigations,and inspections of the programs and operations of DHS,and recommends ways for DHS to carry out its responsibilities in the most effective,efficient,and economical manner possible."
The U.S.Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General is one of the Inspector General offices created by the Inspector General Act of 1978. The Inspector General for the Department of Transportation,like the Inspectors General of other federal departments and agencies,is charged with monitoring and auditing department programs to combat waste,fraud,and abuse.
The federal government of the United States empowers a wide range of law enforcement agencies to maintain law and public order related to matters affecting the country as a whole.
The Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act of 1998,amending the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 and the Inspector General Act of 1978,sets forth a procedure for employees and contractors of specified federal intelligence agencies to report complaints or information to Congress about serious problems involving intelligence activities.
The Department of Defense Inspector General (DoDIG) is an independent,objective agency that provides oversight related to the programs and operations of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). DoD IG was created in 1982 as an amendment to the Inspector General Act of 1978.
The Department of Defense Whistleblower Program in the United States is a whistleblower protection program within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) whereby DoD personnel are trained on whistleblower rights. The Inspector General's commitment fulfills,in part,the federal mandate to protect whistleblowers. It also administers the Defense Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Program (DICWP),as a sub-mission for the intelligence community. The Inspector General's Defense Criminal Investigative Service also conducts criminal investigations which rely,in part,on Qui Tam relators.
The Defense Intelligence Community Whistleblower Program (DICWP) is a sub-mission of the Department of Defense Whistleblower Program. In administering the DICWP,the Office of the Inspector General,U.S. Department of Defense (DoDIG) balances the competing national security and separation of powers interests raised by whistleblowing within the Defense Intelligence Community.The DoDIG provides a safe,authorized conduit for Defense Department whistleblowers to disclose classified information. The Inspector General also has authority to investigate whistleblowing reprisal allegations filed by civilian and military members of the Defense Intelligence Community. It therefore accepts the disclosures and provides source protection for those providing the information. The Department of Defense funds and supervises much of the Republic's intelligence gathering. DoD IG accordingly provides protection to a large number of civilian and military intelligence personnel.
Chad Fredrick Wolf is a former lobbyist and former American government official who was named the acting United States secretary of homeland security in November 2019. His appointment was ruled unlawful in November 2020. Wolf was also the under secretary of homeland security for strategy,policy,and plans from 2019 to 2021.
Kirstjen Michele Nielsen is an American politician and attorney who served as United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019. She is a former principal White House deputy chief of staff to President Donald Trump,and was chief of staff to John F. Kelly during his tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security.
Michael Kevin Atkinson is an American attorney. He worked for the United States Department of Justice for approximately 15 years,before becoming the second Inspector General of the Intelligence Community. He assumed office on May 17,2018.
Efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to coerce Ukraine and other countries into providing damaging narratives about 2020 Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden as well as misinformation relating to Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections caused a political scandal in the United States. Trump enlisted surrogates within and outside his official administration,including his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr,to pressure Ukraine and other foreign governments to cooperate in supporting conspiracy theories concerning American politics. Trump blocked payment of a congressionally mandated $400 million military aid package to allegedly obtain quid pro quo cooperation from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump released the aid after becoming aware of a whistleblower complaint about his activities relating to Ukraine,before the complaint was known by Congress or the public. A number of contacts were established between the White House and the government of Ukraine,culminating in a phone call between Trump and Zelenskyy on July 25,2019.
Andrew P. Bakaj is a Washington,DC attorney and former intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. He was the principal attorney representing the whistleblower who filed the initial complaint that led to the launch of multiple investigations by the United States Congress into the Trump–Ukraine scandal,the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump,and,ultimately,the first Impeachment of Donald Trump.
Department of Homeland Security appointments by Donald Trump.
The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) is an independent oversight committee within the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency,created by the Coronavirus Aid,Relief,and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020 to ensure that the $2.2 trillion of the CARES act,plus 5 other pandemic-related pieces of legislation totaling over $5 trillion in government funds,were not misspent.
In April and May 2020,United States President Donald Trump dismissed the inspectors general (IGs) of five cabinet departments in the space of six weeks. The inspectors general removed were Michael K. Atkinson,Intelligence,on April 3;Glenn Fine (acting),Defense,April 7;Christi Grimm (acting),Health and Human Services,May 1;Mitch Behm (acting),Transportation,May 15;and Steve Linick,State,May 15. In four of the cases the announcement was made late on a Friday night in a classic Friday news dump. In several cases the fired IGs had taken an action which Trump disliked,so that the dismissals were widely described as retaliation. In two other cases,questions were raised about whether the dismissals related to ongoing IG investigations into the conduct of the cabinet secretary in charge of that department. The cumulative firings were often described as a "purge" or as a "war on watchdogs".
In June 2020,the Trump administration began deploying federal law enforcement forces to select cities in the United States in response to rioting and monument removals amid the George Floyd protests. Federal law enforcement elements were deployed under Operation Legend,Operation Diligent Valor,and the Protecting American Communities Task Force (PACT). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cited an executive order regarding "monuments,memorials and statues" as allowing federal officers to be deployed without the permission of individual U.S. states,as the federal government "has the right to enforce federal laws,investigate crimes and make arrests" within states.
Brian Murphy was the acting United States Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis from March 2018 until July 31,2020.
In the aftermath of the 2021 United States Capitol attack,after drawing widespread condemnation from Congress,members of his administration,and the media,Trump released a video-taped statement on January 7 to stop the resignations of his staff and the threats of impeachment or removal from office. In the statement,he condemned the violence at the Capitol,saying that "a new administration will be inaugurated",which was widely seen as a concession,and his "focus now turns to ensuring a smooth,orderly,and seamless transition of power" to the Biden administration. Vanity Fair reported that Trump was at least partially convinced to make the statement by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC),who told Trump a sufficient number of Senate Republicans would support removing him from office unless he conceded. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany had attempted to distance the administration from the rioters' behavior in a televised statement earlier in the day. On January 9,The New York Times reported that Trump had told White House aides he regretted committing to an orderly transition of power and would never resign from office. In a March 25 interview on Fox News,Trump defended the Capitol attackers,saying they were patriots who posed "zero threat",and he criticized law enforcement for "persecuting" the rioters.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link)Joseph Cuffari, the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, rejected his staff’s recommendation to investigate what role the Secret Service played in the forcible clearing of protesters from Lafayette Square on June 1, according to internal documents and two people familiar with his decision, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the discussions.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link)Cuffari told the team they should narrow the probe, and suggested only examining how the spread of the coronavirus affected the Secret Service’s investigative work rather than its protection assignments. But coronavirus infections in the Secret Service were falling the hardest on agents and officers working protective roles, who were required to travel around the country to secure public rallies for Trump’s campaign.
Secret Service records show that 881 people on the agency payroll were diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 1, 2020 and March 9, 2021, according to documents obtained by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. More than 11% of Secret Service employees were infected.
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