Whistleblower of misconduct by US diplomats intimidated by State Dept.<\/p>\n
The US State Department investigator that has accused American diplomats of using drugs, soliciting prostitutes, and engaging in sexual abuse of minors has charged the department with an “intimidation” campaign against her.<\/p>\n
Leaks reported last week by whistleblower and ex-inspector general of the State Department, Aurelia Fedenisn, shed light into alleged wrongdoing by American diplomatic staff around the globe, but reportedly led US police officers harassing her and attempting to incriminate the former investigator, Foreign Policy<\/i> magazine reported Monday.<\/p>\n
Fedenisn\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s lawyer Cary Schulman is cited in the report as saying, “They had law enforcement officers camp out in front of her (Fedenisn\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s) house, harass her children and attempt to incriminate herself.”<\/p>\n
According to the report, the life of the former inspector general \u00c5\u201cchanged dramatically\u201d last Monday after she offered \u00c5\u201cdocuments and statements\u201d to CBS News, alleging that senior State Department officials “influenced, manipulated, or simply called off” multiple probes by the department into misconduct.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The suppression of investigations by State Department authorities was \u00c5\u201cnoted in an early draft of an Inspector General report, but softened in the final version,\u201d the report further states.<\/p>\n
The report cites Schulman as saying that after CBS News contacted the State Department with inquiries about the charges, investigators from the Department’s Inspector General promptly showed up at Fedenisn’s door. “They talked to both kids and never identified themselves,” he said. “First the older brother and then younger daughter, a minor, asking for their mom’s place of work and cell phone number … They camped out for four to five hours.”<\/p>\n
Schulman further insisted that the purpose of the visit was to get Fedenisn \u00c5\u201cto sign a document admitting that she stole State Department materials, such as the memos leaked to CBS,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n
He also charged that sending federal law enforcement officers to pressure Fedenisn into signing an agreement was heavy handed. “Why not simply mail it, courier it\u2026 or deliver it by any other normal means by which one delivers a demand letter? Why send two federal law enforcement agents?” he asked.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Washington attorney Kel McClanahan, who has represented several agency whistleblowers, has described the action the State Department\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s reaction against Fedenisn as intimidating, noting that the tactic is \u00c5\u201call too common when an agency wants something\u2026 that it is not entirely confident it can get without your cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n
MFB\/MFB<\/p>\n<\/div>\n