Management

AG Eric Holder: Prostitutes are off limits for Justice employees

Attorney General Eric Holder issued a memo to Justice Department employees reminding them that soliciting a prostitute can lead to suspension and termination. T...

Federal News Network Staff

April 10, 2015 5:30 pm

2 min read

By Sean McCalley
Federal News Radio

Just a reminder: Justice Department employees are not allowed to hire prostitutes, Attorney General Eric Holder wrote in a department-wide memo issued today.

Paying for sex, or even failing to report suspicious behavior along those lines, can lead to suspension or firing for any employee involved.

“The rule applies at all times during an individual’s employment, including while off duty or on personal leave, and applies regardless of whether the activity is legal or tolerated in a particular jurisdiction, foreign or domestic,” Holder said.

The reminder is in response to a recent inspector general investigation. The report detailed various sex parties with prostitutes that involved employees at the Drug Enforcement Administration. The report also chronicled varied allegations of other inappropriate sexual behavior—including unwanted advances, sex between training instructors and students, and relationships between a supervisor and subordinate—involving employees of federal law enforcement agencies within the Justice Department. Those include the FBI, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

On top of the sex parties, internal DEA investigators discovered several agents who allegedly received money, expensive gifts and weapons. The activities and luxuries were sponsored by local drug cartels. While the report didn’t specifically mention in which country this occurred, a law enforcement official confirmed it was Columbia. The incidents came to light in 2009 and 2010. Seven agents admitted to the misconduct, and DEA issued suspensions between two to 10 days.

“The solicitation of prostitution threatens the core mission of the department, not simply because it invites extortion, blackmail, and leaks of sensitive or classified information, but also because it undermines the department’s efforts to eradicate the scourge of human trafficking,” Holder said in the memo.

The memo also details requirements for supervisors to report suspicious or lascivious behavior. That area of concern was also specified in the inspector general’s report.

“In most cases where employees were alleged to have engaged in high-risk sexual behavior, security personnel were not informed about these incidents until long after they occurred or were never informed, even though such behavior presents possible significant security risks,” the report said.