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Daily Bread for 8.4.22: Homeland Security Watchdog Needs Watching

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 84. Sunrise is 5:50 AM and sunset 8:11 PM for 14h 20m 52s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 39.7% of its visible disk illuminated. 

 On this day in 1914, in response to the German invasion of Belgium, Belgium and the British Empire declare war on Germany. The United States declares its neutrality.


Lisa Rein, Carol D. Leonnig, and Maria Sacchetti report Homeland Security watchdog previously accused of misleading investigators, report says:

The Homeland Security watchdog now under scrutiny for his handling of deleted Secret Service text messages from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol previously was accused of misleading federal investigators and running “afoul” of ethics regulations while he was in charge of a Justice Department inspector general field office in Tucson, according to a newly disclosed government report.

In the 2013 report from the Justice Department’s inspector general, which was never publicly released, investigators said they did “not believe” Joseph V. Cuffari’s explanation for why he failed to inform his supervisors — against federal rules — about his testimony in a lawsuit brought by a federal prisoner.

Separately, they found that Cuffari broke ethics rules by referring law firms to the prisoner’s family, including firms where some of his close friends worked. “We concluded Cuffari’s actions violated the [inspector general] manual’s prohibition on unethical conduct,” said the report, which also noted that he may have violated guidelines by using his government email to lobby for a position as inspector general for the Arizona National Guard, among other issues.

For a federal agent, failing to be truthful with investigators can lead to discipline, suspension and possible termination from federal service.

An internal team recommendedreferring Cuffari to the inspector general’s investigations unit for a deeper review of his actions, the report said — but he quickly retired and the following month joined the administration of then-Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) as a policy adviser for public safety.

When he was nominated five years later by President Donald Trump to become the Homeland Security watchdog, Cuffari told Senate lawmakers in a questionnaire that he had been fully truthful to investigators in their probe. Senators in both parties did not press him for details of the investigation before his confirmation by a voice vote in July 2019.

Only the ‘best people,’ and more of them if Trump returns to power. See How Trump could reimpose “Schedule F” in 2025 and 2024 GOP hopefuls back Trump’s plan to purge civil servants


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