WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s internal watchdog lost a crucial account from a whistleblower detailing wrongdoing by political appointees for more than two months, prompting criticism that the agency’s inspector general has been inactive and silent during a time of deep turmoil.

The complaint, submitted in early May, accused top Justice Department officials such as Emil Bove of overseeing an effort to mislead judges and skirt or ignore court orders, according to people familiar with the filing.

That the office received, but did not act upon, a potentially explosive set of allegations two weeks before news of Bove’s nomination to become a federal appeals court judge has raised serious concerns from current and former department lawyers that the unit responsible for policing not just the department but agencies like the FBI and DEA may have gone largely dormant.

“We were all stunned,” said Libby Liu, CEO of Whistleblower Aid, a group representing the person who filed the complaint. “Clearly the inspector general failed in their basic function here. If they don’t even open whistleblower complaints, then what is going on?”

A spokesperson for the inspector general declined to comment on the handling of the complaint.

Related

Senate confirms Trump lawyer Emil Bove for appeals court, pushing past whistleblower claims

The filing, which is not public, was submitted to the inspector general’s office in electronic form on May 2, and a longer, printed version that included...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMixAFBVV95cUxQTldfUXVUMGwzazFFN2JpdXRP...