Christine Ciccone, now a senior-level appointee at DHS, served as the deputy chief of staff under former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
On Thursday, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) released a memo from the DHS OIG that raised concerns over Ciccone's noncompliance with the State Department OIG review.
The message, dated Wednesday, was addressed to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and recommended that she "take appropriate disciplinary action against Ms. Ciccone for failing to cooperate."
"Beginning in September 2018, our colleagues at the Department of State Office of Inspector General (State OIG) have been attempting to interview Ms. Ciccone," the memo from acting Inspector General John V. Kelly said. "Ms. Ciccone is a key witness in State OIG's review; however, she has been unwilling to schedule an interview despite repeated requests made to both her and her attorney over many months."
"Ms. Ciccone's handling of this situation is not consistent with her obligations as an employee under this directive," Kelly continued. "Further, Ms. Ciccone's refusal to comply with State OIG's request for an interview sets a dangerous precedent contrary to the fundamental tenants of the IG Act, with the potential to undermine our critical oversight function."
Lawmakers from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the House Oversight Committee, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee were briefed on Monday. The State OIG said it had evidence of Ciccone's involvement in personnel actions against at least three career employees, but that it couldn't finish its review without her interview.
Engel, Cummings and Menendez -- who serve as the top Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, House Oversight Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, respectively -- echoed the call for Ciccone to be held accountable.
"It is outrageous that a senior Department of Homeland Security official has not complied with requests of the Inspectors General of the Departments of State and Homeland Security. We strongly support the call for appropriate disciplinary action against the official, Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Christine Ciccone," they said in a joint statement.
"Targeting of career government employees at the State Department, US Agency for International Development or any federal agency is unacceptable, and it is imperative that this kind of behavior not be tolerated. We ask that Secretary Nielsen report back to our Committees by Friday to update us on how the Department is ensuring that Ms. Ciccone upholds her responsibility to cooperate with the Inspector General's review," the lawmakers said.
The State OIG launched an investigation last year into allegations of retaliation against career employees during Tillerson's tenure. Among those alleged acts of retaliation, as reported by CNN in January 2018, was the reassignment of career officials from their policy areas to work clearing a backlog of FOIA requests. The officials claimed they were reassigned because of their previous work on policy priorities associated with President Barack Obama and in offices the Trump administration was interested in closing.
According to a letter from Engel and Cummings sent to the White House and State Department last March, a whistleblower had documents showing that Trump political appointees -- including Ciccone -- had "characterized career State Department employees in derogatory terms."
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