Talk A Big Story And Do The Opposite

DOJ slams Obama administration for sexual harassment and disturbing scandals

December 28, 2017

Marc Nozell / CCL

As more information regarding the apathy and incompetence of the Barack Obama administration continues to emerge, his legacy is being chipped away piece by piece. As with most liberals, former-President Barack Obama consistently spoke about protecting women in the workplace, while purposefully ignoring the plight of those under his command.

On Tuesday, a report released by a government watchdog group found a “systemic” issue in how the Obama Justice Department handled sexual harassment complaints: employees that behaved inappropriately did not receive a proper reprimand and, in some cases, were reportedly promoted instead of punished.

The lack of action taken by the Obama administration is in direct contrast to its rhetoric and supposed advocacy for women.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Obama’s record was already under fire after it was revealed that his administration allowed the Islamic militant group Hezbollah to smuggle drugs into the United States and destroyed ten years of undercover work to appease the Iranians so they would sign the Iran nuclear deal. Now another scandal has threatened to upend Obama’s legacy as a protector of women and women’s “rights.”

According to the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General, the level of sexual harassment in the Department of Justice (DOJ) has drastically risen in the last five years and requires “high-level action.” Justice Department Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz elaborated on the extent of the problem in Washington, which has become endemic:

We’re talking about presidential appointees, political appointees, FBI special agents in charge, U.S. attorneys, wardens, a chief deputy U.S. marshal, a U.S. marshal assistant director, a deputy assistant attorney general.

Apparently, the most troubling cases occurred in the Justice Department’s Civil Division. The Hill reported:

In one instance, a top lawyer in the division reportedly groped the breasts and buttocks of two female trial attorneys and also made sexual comments to them at an office. He had previously been disciplined and demoted for sending sexually oriented emails to colleagues.

The “top lawyer,” Victor Lawrence, receive no punishment or reprimand for his reprehensible actions. In fact, his conduct was so egregious that the IG’s report stated that the situation “presented potential criminal assault violations, yet we found no evidence in the case file that a referral was made to the [Inspector General] or any other law enforcement entity.”

There have been 17 more sexual harassment claims from DOJ employees that have surfaced since this summer, though it is unclear when those incidents occurred.

Them, Not Us

Some of the accused under the Obama administration went on to receive commendations and performance awards, while their victims were left baffled and ashamed. One woman who was sexually harassed stated she was “terrified” to get in an elevator for fear that her harasser would be there.

This was apparently a systemic problem in the DOJ, but President Donald Trump, along with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, seem to be taking aggressive measures to clean house to ensure these problems get resolved quickly and fairly.

The Trump Justice Department has declined to comment on the details of any of the allegations but described the problems under the previous administration. Ian Prior, a spokesman for the Trump administration, stated:

The Department does not discuss specific employee disciplinary actions or comment on personnel actions or matters that may impact personal privacy. That said, the Department was very disappointed with the issues that occurred in the Obama administration and strives for a workplace free of harassment and other misconduct for all of our 115,000 employees. That is why the Civil Division has implemented additional safeguards and systems to ensure that all misconduct allegations are handled appropriately going forward.

The veneer on President Obama’s record on human rights, foreign policy, and protecting women seems to be crumbling. He should have spent more time putting his rhetoric into action instead of lecturing the country about its perceived shortcomings.