[VIDEO] Congressman: EPA Sexual Predator ‘Fed A Steady Diet Of Interns’

Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz had some harsh words for EPA Chief Administrator Gina McCarthy during a hearing Wednesday regarding the agency’s handling of an employee who repeatedly sexually harassed interns.

For the past couple of years, Republican lawmakers have been investigating reports of misconduct at the EPA from employees watching porn everyday while on the job to an agency employee who sexually harassed interns and was not reported to the authorities and continued to work at the agency for years.

“This is a predator who was fed a steady diet of interns,” Chaffetz told McCarthy during the hearing. “The first time this happened he should have been fired and he should have probably been referred to the authorities for criminal prosecution.”

“It happened 10 times

Chaffetz remarks come after the EPA inspector general Arthur Elkins told Congress that Peter Jutro, an EPA employee, “engaged in offensive and inappropriate behavior toward at least 16 women, most of whom were EPA co-workers.” Elkins also said very senior EPA officials “were made aware of many of these actions and yet did nothing.”

The IG also noted that Jutro was even promoted to be Assistant Administrator for the EPA’s Office of Homeland Security where he again “engaged in such behavior toward an additional six women.”

Chaffetz went off on McCarthy over the agency’s failure to fire Jutro despite repeated allegations that he was sexually harassing women. Here is the exchange starting with McCarthy’s response to Chaffetz’s first remarks about a “predator who was fed a steady diet of interns”:

McCarthy: I am aware that eleven years ago there was an issue raised and it was handle appropriately is my understanding.

Chaffetz: Appropriately?! He got a promotion, he continued to work there.

M: No, he was carefully watched. The very minute we had any indication of impropriety, which was the recent issue, we took prompt action and in less than two months…

C: You moved his cubicle four spaces away. You think that’s appropriate? What do you say to the mother and father who sent their twenty-four year old to the EPA — she’s starting her career, and she’s harassed. Look at her statement. And you did the right thing by moving her four cubicles away?

M: Sir, we are doing everything we can to reinforce the policy and the law. We are developing procedures so there’s never a question about this, and we are doing everything…

C: That isn’t good enough! When someone is sexually harassed you send them to the authorities, you fire them.

M: I did send them to the authorities…

C: You sent them to human resources, who wanted to reprimand him, you never did send them to the criminal referral.

M: Human resources recommended the same thing as every manager, which was to proceed to removal, the man is no longer in federal…

C: That’s not what actually happened. It was in his record that they had had ten complaints — ten sexual harassment complaints against this gentleman and he was allowed to continue to be there. And as we heard testimony, a predator who was a fed a steady diet of interns.

M: I am aware of one complaint, eleven years ago, and the complaint that was just processed under my watch which resulted in his removal from public service within five or six weeks.

C: Did you fire him, or was he allowed to retire?

M: He was allowed to retire because that is his right. Even if he were fired, he’d be allowed to retire.

C: Do you believe this intern who said there was sexual harassment? Do that her statement is true?

M: Oh, I absolutely do…

C: Then why didn’t you refer it for a criminal referral? If you believe that her statement is true, and it was sexual harassment, and that is a violation of the law, and you allowed him to just retire, why didn’t you send that to the proper authorities?

M: We took the appropriate action.

C: Do you think it’s appropriate, do you think it’s against the law to sexually harass somebody at work?

M: I think it’s not only against the law, but it’s also against our policies, and we acted under the policies and the law when it led to the removal of him from public [office].

C: Did you let any of the law enforcement officer know?

M: Mr. Chaffetz, I’ve got two young daughters just about this woman’s age…

C: I’ve got two young daughters too! And I would never send them to the EPA, it’s the most toxic place to work I’ve ever heard of. This person, this twenty-four year old girl, she’s starting her career, she’s harassed over a three-year period and you admit that is a violation of the law. Why didn’t you do the criminal referral?

Via: Daily Caller

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[VIDEO] Chaffetz: IRS Commissioner John Koskinen Should Be Fired And Impeached

Katie Pavlich | Jul 28, 2015

After years of investigation into the IRS targeting of conservative groups House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, who took over as chairman after Rep. Darrell Issa earlier this year, has had enough of IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. 

Yesterday Chaffetz called on the President to fire Koskinen over allegations of obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence and stonewalling a congressional investigation. He accused Koskinen of lying to Congress when he said last year that backup tapes belonging to former IRS commissioner Lois Lerner, the woman at the center of the targeting scandal, didn't exist. We of course learned shortly after that backup tapes do exist, but that IRS officials didn't bother looking for them in order to turn them over to Congress for scrutiny. It was later revealed that at least some of the available back-up tapes were destroyed, even after a congressional subpoena for the tapes was issued. 

"Congress needs to get more aggressive and stand up for itself. We may hold him in contempt and there are other constitutional remedies that perhaps, one of the things we're exploring is perhaps impeaching the commissioner," Chaffetz said last night On The Record. "He [President Obama] should fire Mr. Koskinen because he's not working with us." 

"We're going to get to the truth no matter where it is no matter how long this takes. We're going to get after it," Chaffetz continued.

Considering President Obama doesn't believe the IRS targeting of conservatives is a scandal at all, I doubt he'll be heeding Chaffetz' calls. However, Congress does have the power of impeachment. Whether that authority will be exercised under current GOP leadership is a different story.

Last week, former Oversight Chairman Issa revealed the IRS is still engaged in targeting of conservative groups.

Via: Townhall

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[VIDEO] Jason Chaffetz: Expect News on Probe of IRS 'As Early As Next Week'

Rep. Jason Chaffetz asserts there is evidence that the IRS intentionally targeted conservative groups under Lois Lerner, the former director of the Exempt Organizations Unit at the agency, and said "there will be news … as early as next week."

Chaffetz, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is leading the congressional investigation into the IRS scandal. On Thursday, he told a group at the Ripon Society in Washington, D.C., the IRS destroyed documents requested by the committee in March 2014.

"Probably the biggest thing our committee is looking at is the IRS," the Utah Republican said. "You have political targeting that is factual at this point. There are no ifs, ands or buts. You had groups within the IRS who were politically targeting conservatives and impeding their First Amendment rights. You're going to continue to hear more about this. Because when the targeting became evident, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee put in place a subpoena for the documents — a small window of Lois Lerner's emails.

"Internally, the IRS put a preservation order in place — don't destroy or get rid of any of these documents. These documents and emails were in the possession of the IRS. And on March 4, 2014, they destroyed them."

Lerner resigned from her post at the IRS in September 2013 after she was placed on administrative leave in May of that year following the revelations.

Chaffetz said during his address at the Ripon Society the IRS deliberately defied orders by destroying the documents.

"Imagine if the IRS had given you a summons for you to produce documents," Chaffetz added. "You had them in your possession, and then you destroyed them. What would happen to you? Do you think they would say, 'Oh, darn it!' No, which is why Congress has to stand up for itself. You cannot — with a duly issued subpoena and eternal preservation order in place — go out and destroy documents and say there is no consequence to that; nobody's going to be held accountable, and nobody is at fault.

"And yet that's essentially what we've heard from the president, who has said repeatedly there is not even a 'smidgeon' of corruption. He was on 'The Daily Show' with Jon Stewart the other night and said, 'You know what the real scandal is? The real scandal is that the IRS is underfunded. They need more agents, more people, and Congress passed a bad law.'

"You know this ridiculous law the president is talking about? It was passed in 1913. He makes it look as if we had passed this law. That little detail he said on 'The Daily Show,' you're going to see that surface. We will continue to pursue this, and I promise you — there will be news on the IRS side as early as next week. So stay tuned."

It was recently reported that investigators found more than 1,400 emails tied to Lerner that were thought to have been deleted.

Via: Newsmax

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[VIDEO] [BREAKING] OPM director Katherine Archuleta resigns in wake of data breach

U.S. personnel chief Katherine Archuleta resigned Friday in the wake of massive data breach that allowed hackers to steal the records of more than 21 million people under her watch, Fox News confirmed.

Archuleta submitted her resignation to President Obama Friday morning. Her resignation is effective at the close of business today.

She will be replaced by Beth Cobert, who currently works in the White House budget office, White House sources told Fox News. 

"This is the absolute right call,” House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz said in a written statement following the announcement. “OPM needs a competent, technically savvy leader to manage the biggest cybersecurity crisis in this nation's history. The IG has been warning about security lapses at OPM for almost a decade. This should have been addressed much, much sooner but I appreciate the President doing what's best now.”

Calls for Archuleta to go grew in recent weeks following a massive government data breach on her watch.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Archuleta had rebuffed demands that she resign, telling reporters she had no intention of leaving and that her agency was doing everything it could to address concerns about the safety of data in its hands.

But on Friday morning, Archuleta told Obama it was best for her to step aside to let new leadership respond to the recent breaches and to improve systems to lessen risks in the future. 

White House spokesman Josh Earnest insisted Friday that Archuleta submitted her resignation at her own volition, and added it is "quite clear" to the president that new leadership at OPM is desperately needed. 

In a statement, Archuleta made no direct reference to the data breach, saying only that she believed it was best to allow the agency to "move beyond the current challenges." She praised the agency's employees as "some of the most dedicated, capable and hardworking individuals in the federal government."

"I have complete confidence in their ability to continue fulfill OPM's important mission of recruiting, retaining and honoring a world-class workforce to serve the American people," Archuleta said.

Archuleta's position appeared to become unsustainable given the scope of the data breach and the mounting calls from lawmakers in both parties for her to resign. On Thursday, within hours of the Obama administration releasing new details about the scope of the breach, House Republican leaders demanded new leadership in the agency, and a number of Democrats followed.

California Rep. Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Archuleta's resignation "will help to restore confidence in an agency that not only poorly defended sensitive data of millions of Americans but struggled to respond to repeated intrusions."

"This change in leadership is also an acknowledgement that we cannot simply place blame on the hackers, but need to take responsibility for the protection of personal information that is so obvious a target," Schiff said.

Via: Fox News

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GOP lawmakers call on Obama to fire OPM chief after massive data breach

WASHINGTON –  House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, along with 17 other Republican lawmakers, on Friday called on President Obama to fire the embattled officials whose agency fell victim to a massive hack exposing federal employee data and security clearance information. 

Echoing statements he recently made at a House hearing, Chaffetz and the other lawmakers blamed Katherine Archuleta, director of the Office of Personnel Management, for the breach that’s been described as one of the worst in U.S. history. Chief Information Officer Donna Seymour should also be dismissed, a letter to Obama states.

“Simply put, the recent breach was entirely foreseeable, and Director Archuleta and CIO Donna Seymour failed to take steps to prevent it from happening despite repeated warnings,” the two-page letter states. 

Officials are still exploring the extent of the breach. Though it was initially reported that about 4 million people were affected, lawmakers have since been told a pair of hacks are expected to affect at least 18 million -- and as many as 30 million. 

According to the Inspector General’s FY 2014 audit, 11 out of 47 major information systems at OPM lacked proper security authorization. Five of those systems were under Seymour.

Via: Fox News

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GOP ESTABLISHMENT CAVES… TO CONSERVATIVES FOR ONCE!!!

While we’re all licking our wounds from being betrayed by Supreme Justice Benedict Roberts, let’s at least savor the fact that conservative criticism actually got the GOP establishment to cave to US for once!!

From the Hill:

Facing enormous blowback, Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) on Thursday reversed his decision and said he was reinstating Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) as a subcommittee chairman.

Chaffetz stripped Meadows of his subcommittee gavel last week after the congressman joined nearly three dozen other conservatives in voting against leadership on a procedural motion that nearly scuttled a major trade package.

Last week’s move was part of a pattern of punishment targeting conservatives who’ve defied leadership on key votes.

But Chaffetz soon came under heavy fire from conservatives, including Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who’s running for president. By Thursday, Chaffetz had backpedalled, saying a number of colleagues had urged him to reconsider his decision.

Sorry Boehner, but I don’t think Mark Levin is gonna back down even after this minor capitulation.

“Having spoken with Mark Meadows several times during the past week, I think we both better understand each other. I respect Mark and his approach. The discussions and candor have been healthy and productive,” Chaffetz said in a statement.

BOOM! Geez, crapping on conservatives is usually the only time the GOP establishment grows a spine! Mark that a score for the good guys, Smokey.

Via: The Right Scoop

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[VIDEO] OPM HEAD UNSURE OF FILES IT MAINTAINS, HOW MANY PEOPLE’S INFORMATION EXPOSED

Office of Personnel Management Director (OPM) Katherine Archuleta was unsure of how many employees and retirees’ information her agency oversees and might have been breached in testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.

Archuleta was asked by Chairman 

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)

80%

 how many federal employees and retirees her agency has personally identifiable information for. She responded, “We have 2.7 individuals who are full-time employees, and 2.4 who are –” before Chaffetz cut her off to say, “No, I asked you — you have personal, identifiable information for how many employees and retirees?”

Archuleta continued, “The number I just gave you includes the number of employees and retirees, and personally identifiable information within those files depends on whether they’ve had a background investigation or whether their personnel file –” Chaffetz again cut in, asking, “How many records do you have?”

Archuleta then told Chaffetz she will ask someone else, he told Archuleta that as the head of the agency, she should know. He then read a letter she wrote the Appropriations chairs in the House and the Senate that said her agency had the personal, identifiable information for 32 million federal employees and retirees. Chaffetz then asked, “Are you here to tell me that that information is all safe or is it potentially 32 million records that are at play here?”

She answered, “As I mentioned to you earlier in my testimony, Mr. Chairman, we’re reviewing the number, and the scope of the breach and the impact to all of the records.” Chaffetz asked, “So, it could be as high as 32 million? Is that right?” He was told that Archuleta “will not give a number that is not completely accurate.”

Chaffetz continued to press the issue, stating he was only asking for a range, not an exact number and wondering if 32 million people’s information could be exposed. “I’m not going to give you a number that I am not sure of.”

Chaffetz then asked, “And when they fill out the SF86, that would include other people that identified within those forms, correct?” Archuleta answered that this was correct. He then asked if there was an average number of people who are identified on an SF86, to which he was told that there is no average that Archuleta knows of.

The questioning concluded with Chaffetz asking, “When you asked for $32 million more in your budget request, it was because you had 32 million federal employees identified, and former employees, correct?” Archuleta answered, “That — the number of employees that we have, yes, we’re asking for support for our cybersecurity –

Via: Breitbart

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[VIDEO] Did Hack Include Files of CIA and Military Personnel? OPM Director: ‘I Would be Glad to Discuss That in a Classified Setting’

(CNSNews.com) - When Office of Personnel Management Director Katherine Archuleta testified in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week she said that the personnel records of about 4.2 million current and former federal employees had been “compromised” by a “cyber intrusion” into the OPM’s computer systems.

She also said that “an additional OPM system was compromised.”

“These systems included information based on the background investigations of current, former and prospective federal government employees, as well as other individuals,” Archuleta told the committee under oath.

When Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz asked Archuleta whether this included the files on military and CIA personnel, Archuletta gave him an identical answer to each question.

“I would be glad to discuss that in a classified setting,” she said.

Here is part of the exchange between Achuleta in Chaffetz in which Archuleta says she will discuss “in a classified setting” whether the hack involved files of military and CIA personnel:

Chaffetz: Ms. Archuleta, my question for you is how big was this attack? How many federal workers have been compromised? We've heard 4 million, we've heard 14 million. What's the right number? Your microphone, please.

Archuleta: Sorry. During the course of the ongoing investigation into the cyber intrusion of OPM that compromised the current, the personnel records of current and former federal employees that we announced last week, that number is approximately 4.2 million. In addition, in the investigation of that breach, we discovered, as I mentioned in my testimony, an additional OPM system was compromised. And these systems included information based on the background investigations of current, former and prospective federal government employees, as well as other individuals.

Because different agencies feed into OPM background-investigation systems in different ways, we are working with the agencies right now to determine how many of their employees were affected. We do not have that number at this time but we will get back to you once we have more information.

Chaffetz: What's your best estimate? Is the 14 million number wrong or accurate?

Archuleta: As I said before, we do not have an estimate because where this is an ongoing investigation.

Chaffetz: How far back does it go? The information that your telling me--you have former employees, current employees, and potential employees. So, how far back does this information go that was in your system?

Archuleta: Thank you for that question, Mr. Chaffetz. I would have to respond, again, it's because it's an ongoing investigation.

Chaffetz: It has nothing to do with impeding an investigation. You should know what information you have and what you don't, so this is not going to slow down any investigation. People have a right to know. The employees have a right to know. How far back does your information database go that was compromised?

Via: CNS News

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Breitbart Exclusive — Mark Levin: Boehner’s Retaliation Against Conservatives Means Open Warfare, Time To Take Him Down

by MATTHEW BOYLE20 Jun 2015Washington, DC2411

It’s time for conservatives to take out House Speaker 

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)

35%

 and all of his comrades in primaries, nationally syndicated radio host, New York Times bestselling author, and conservative movement thought leader Mark Levin argues in an exclusive comment to Breitbart News.

Levin’s comments come after Boehner’s retaliation against conservatives hit a new low this weekend, with a report from Politico about how House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chairman 

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)

80%

—playing along with Boehner’s scheme to attack Republicans for voting their conscience—removed 

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC)

96%

 as the chairman of a subcommittee on his full committee. Levin even compared Boehner to 20th century Communist Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and how he cleansed his government of all dissent.

“Speaker Boehner’s and Congressman Chaffetz’s removal of Meadows is the latest in a series of ideologically-driven attacks on conservatives. Boehner seems to think he’s Stalin cleaning out all opposition in the Kremlin,” Levin said. “No Republican Speaker in recent times has behaved with less integrity in his wielding of power.”

Levin said that Boehner, House Majority Leader 

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)

45%

, and Majority Whip 

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA)

74%

—and more—each need to be removed by Republicans across the country in primaries in 2016. He says this is because the leadership has failed to learn the proper lessons from the astronomical defeat of now former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in 2014 in a primary against now Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA), the first time in U.S. history a sitting House Majority Leader was defeated in a primary. The position of majority leader was created in the late 1800s, so that means this never happened for more than a century—and Levin is calling out GOP leadership for failing to learn from the unprecedented event.

“Obviously, the lessons of Eric Cantor’s humiliating loss have not resonated with Boehner, McCarthy, and Scalise,” Levin said. “The only solution is for Conservatives to husband their resources and target these three in the coming Republican primaries. Conservatives need to find serious candidates and raise funds nationwide to defeat them. Let them fight for their political careers as our response to their disgusting and pathetic behavior.”

For primaries, Boehner already has an opponent declared—J.D. Winteregg. Winteregg ran against Boehner last cycle and didn’t win, but he is getting even more aggressive this time around.

Via: Breitbart

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Obama IRS Political Appointees Protected Tea Party Probe Requests

Internal Revenue Service Director of Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner listens during testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee May 22, 2013 in Washington, DC. The committee is investigating allegations that the IRS targeted conservative non-profit organizations with the words "tea party" and "constitution" in their names for additional scrutiny. Lerner, who headed the division that oversees exempt organizations, plans to assert her constitutional right not to answer questions. AFP PHOTO / Karen BLEIER (Photo credit should read KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)

A special internal committee was set up by senior IRS officials after information requests from Congress and “other investigative bodies” asking the IRS to investigate conservative and Tea Party non-profit applicants were sent to the federal tax agency’s two Obama White House political appointees.

Mary Howard, the IRS’s director of privacy, governmental liaison and disclosure division, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government reform Wednesday she never saw any of the information requests because the requests were forwarded to the special committee. Howard is also the tax agency’s chief Freedom of Information Act officer.

“I think Lois Lerner was just the tip of the iceberg,” Howard said.

“You’re telling me your group doesn’t get that?” Republican Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz asked. “Do you realize that there are only two political appointees in the IRS, the commissioner and the chief counsel?”

Chaffetz pressed Howard on White House involvement in screening documents related to the scandal. He held up an April 2009 memo from President Barack Obama that required agencies to send any requested documents to the White House that held “White House equities.”

Since those information requests never went to her department, Howard couldn’t tell the Oversight Committee who had to sign off on the release of any documents related to Lerner or the nonprofit targeting.

Chaffetz also said the committee had to subpoena the IRS for Howard’s presence at the hearing.

“We will drag the IRS up here every single week if we have to,” Chaffetz said. “You work for the American people.”

“If the IRS went after an individual … There’s no way you’d put up with this,” he continued.

Via: Daily Caller

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Journalists Tell Oversight Committee: Bureaucrats Make FOIA Process ‘Useless

U.S. Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) (L) speaks with Representative Trey Gowdy (R-SC) (R) during "The Security Failures of Benghazi" hearing on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. October 10, 2012. Diplomatic security in Libya was drawn down ahead of last month's fatal attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi and U.S. officials did not have enough protection, the former head of a U.S. security team in Libya told lawmakers on Wednesday. REUTERS/Jose Luis Magana (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR38ZVU

Members of a House oversight committee were outraged during a bizarre hearing Tuesday in which congressmen listened to journalists discuss how government agencies intentionally botched formal requests for information.

The reporters told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of numerous instances where agencies needlessly delayed, denied or redacted Freedom of Information Act requests. The FOIA guarantees the public access to all government documents, subject only to nine exemptions such as for privacy, commercial privilege and national security.

The journalists also suggested that government employees who violate the FOIA law should be prosecuted. There are currently no consequences to bureaucrats who don’t abide by the statute that has been on the books since 1966.

FOIA is a “pointless, useless shadow of its former self,” said former CBS investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson

“Our role of objectively reporting the facts has been increasingly blocked,” said Newsweek Finance Editor Leah Goodman. “There is a motive for unresponsiveness and unaccountability.”

Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, noted that President Obama promised at the outset of his first term that his administration would champion an unprecedented level of openness in the federal government.

Chaffetz held up an April 2009 memo that ordered agencies to allow the White House to review any requested documents that involved “White House equities.” There is no provision in the FOIA for the assertion of such a White House privilege.

“I don’t care who’s in the White House, it’s wrong, it’s wrong, it’s wrong,” Chaffetz shouted.

Via: Daily Caller

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