Mueller Launches FBI Inquiry Into Disciplinary Department

Concerned about an erosion of trust, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III announced a review Friday of the agency office that investigates employee wrongdoing and takes disciplinary action.

The inquiry, which could take six months, focuses on the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, which has been accused of having dual disciplinary systems for supervisors and field agents and of minimizing allegations of retaliation against whistleblowers.

“FBI employees must trust that allegations of wrongdoing will be thoroughly investigated and that discipline will be appropriate and fair regardless of the assignment or seniority of the employee involved,” Mueller said in a statement.

“The public must also have confidence that the FBI is holding its employees to the highest standards of professional conduct,” he said.

The statement says that the review is partly a response to “an erosion of trust” because of problems detailed in media reports and investigations by the Justice Department’s inspector general and by Congress.

The review will be led by Griffin B. Bell, who was attorney general under President Carter, and former FBI executive Lee Colwell, a 24-year veteran who retired in 1985. Bell was also a member of the Webster Commission that in 2002 reported on FBI security failings in the Robert Philip Hanssen spy case.

In addition to specific cases, the review is to look at all aspects of the disciplinary office, such as the way appeals are handled, whether investigations and adjudications should be handled by the same office, and whether the office is used too often to assess employee performance.

The internal review follows a report by Glenn A. Fine, the Justice Department inspector general, concluding that the current head of the OPR, Robert Jordan, exercised poor judgment by denying a promotion to an FBI agent who said on CBS’ “60 Minutes” that supervisors received lighter punishments than field agents for similar transgressions.

Sens. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) have alleged that the FBI engaged in retaliatory action against the agent, John Roberts, for his television appearance and similar testimony before Congress.

Grassley, who spoke with Mueller earlier Friday, applauded the announcement and said that the FBI “needs to be able to police its own without questions about the integrity of the process.”

“If the bureau is sick on the inside, it can’t fight the war on terrorism,” Grassley said.

Leahy said the review should “aggressively investigate” the office’s problems and release its findings to the public. “Only neutral reporting and full disclosure will ensure effective oversight and restore public confidence in the FBI,” he said.