Wednesday, June 3, 2015

THE ENEMY WITHIN: AFTER THE RESIGNATION OF THE DEA ADMINISTRATOR, SEX PARTIES COST DEA MILLIONS IN FUNDING CUTS


JUNE 3, 2015

The House got its revenge late Tuesday night against the Drug Enforcement Administration by cutting millions of dollars in funding for the agency, after it was revealed in March that DEA officials participated in "sex parties" in Colombia with prostitutes.

The Office of Inspector General for the Justice Department released a report in March that said these sex parties were attended by prostitutes that were "funded by the local drug cartels." In a hearing held later, officials later admitted that the cartels providing the prostitutes were the same cartels the DEA officials were supposed to be investigating.

The scandal forced then-DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart to resign about a month later.

Tuesday night, the House punished the DEA even more by piling on cuts to administrative salaries. Members were considering legislation to fund the Department of Justice and other related agencies, a bill that already withholds $20 million from DEA until the agency implements recommendations aimed at addressing "employee misconduct."

In a series of quick amendment votes Tuesday night, the House added another $23 million in cuts to DEA salaries and administrative expenses. One of these came in the form of an amendment from Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., who wanted to cut $4 million from DEA and use the money fund efforts to investigate sexual assault against children.

Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., proposed another $9 million in cuts to DEA salaries to boost funding to help children and victims of abuse, and Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, proposed a $10 million cut to DEA salaries to fund police body cameras.

Each of these proposals was approved by voice vote, showing that both parties were fine with cuts to DEA.

The House turned away just one other proposal, also from Cohen, to cut DEA salaries by $12 million to boost funding for the Legal Services Corporation.
Source: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com