The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general said in a memo to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen Wednesday that a political appointee had refused to cooperate with a review of allegations of politically motivated retaliation at the State Department.
Christine Ciccone, once the chief operating officer of Jeb Bush’s campaign, eventually found herself in a small circle of then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s close advisers in the early days of the Trump administration. In November 2017, as Tillerson’s deputy chief of staff, she took over a senior appointee’s efforts to reorganize the State Department. In 2018, as scrutiny of her and others’ actions mounted, she moved agencies and became the DHS assistant secretary for legislative affairs.
Ciccone, Acting DHS Department Inspector General John V. Kelly wrote to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen Wednesday, “is a key witness in State [Department Office of Inspector General] review; however, she has been unwilling to schedule an interview despite repeated requests made to both her and her attorney over many months.” (Read his full memo below.)
Kelly added later: “Ms. Ciccone’s handling of this situation is not consistent with her obligations as an employee under this directive. 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. Therefore, I recommend that you take appropriate disciplinary action against Ms. Ciccone.”
The chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, House Oversight Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee released the inspector general’s memo Thursday and added that they “strongly support the call for appropriate disciplinary action” against Ciccone.
An unnamed congressional aide told Politico that the inspector general asserted to members of Congress that Ciccone “in possession of documentary evidence demonstrating [her] involvement in personnel actions against at least three career employees.”
Last year, congressional Democrats amplified whistleblowers who they said witnessed efforts to clean house at the State Department of employees deemed insufficiently supportive of the President’s agenda.
Ciccone was among a group of political appointees cited by Democrats who referred to department employees “in derogatory terms, including as ‘a leaker and troublemaker’; ‘Turncoat’; ‘associated with previous policy’; and ‘Obama/Clinton loyalists not at all supportive of President Trump’s foreign policy agenda.’”
Eventually, as TPM reported, the department’s inspector general got involved. During that review, Ciccone switched from State to DHS.
