Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Voting Section career employee Stephanie Celandine Gyamfi perjured herself three times during an internal investigation, the Heritage Foundation’s Hans Von Spakovsky reports for Pajamas Media.
According to Spakovsky, the DOJ inspector general recently launched an investigation into several document leaks between 2005 and 2007. “The genesis of Ms. Gyamfi’s perjury is apparently rooted in political attacks on the [George W.] Bush Justice Department,” Spakovsky wrote. “Throughout 2005-2007, numerous attorney-client privileged documents, confidential personnel information, and other sensitive legal materials were leaked from inside the Voting Section to the Washington Post and various left-wing blogs.”
Throughout the inspector general’s investigation, one individual that Spakovsky said investigators interviewed multiple times was Gyamfi. “According to numerous sources within the section, Ms. Gyamfi had been asked in two separate interviews whether she was involved in the leaking of confidential and privileged information out of the Voting Section,” Spakovsky wrote. “Each time, she flatly denied any knowledge as to who was responsible for the leaks. In a third interview, she was once again questioned about her role in the leaks.”
“At first, she adamantly denied involvement,” Spakovsky continued. “Then, however, she was confronted with e-mail documents rebutting her testimony. At that point, she immediately broke down and confessed that she had lied to the investigators three separate times.”
Gyamfi reportedly said that she lied to protect others within the DOJ.
Spakovsky said that Gyamfi then cried and told a coworker about how she lied to investigators and admitted it.
Gyamfi still works for the DOJ Civil Rights Division Voting Section, and is involved with the ongoing Texas congressional redistricting process — which is the subject of the documents she helped leak. (RELATED: Supreme Court blocks court-drawn election districts opposed by Texas Republicans)
“Not only has she not been disciplined, but right now the department is reviewing Texas’s new redistricting plan and she’s one of the people assigned to review it,” Spakovsky told The Daily Caller in a phone interview.
Spakovsky said “it’s not a promotion,” but Gyamfi is doing the same job she was doing before when she leaked the documents she later lied about.
Attorney General Eric Holder has the power to terminate Gyamfi’s employment, but hasn’t yet. “It’s a criminal violation of the law,” Spakovsky said. “The attorney general can terminate, even if you’re a career employee who’s got all kinds of civil service protection.”
The District of Columbia U.S. Attorney, a person who reports to Holder, would decide if criminal charges would be filed for the perjury or other potential violations of the law.
Former DOJ Civil Rights Division attorney J. Christian Adams believes the reason Gyamfi hasn’t been held accountable is because liberal employees of the DOJ aren’t traditionally held accountable. “Some people there think it is okay to lie, cheat and steal just because they are part of a larger cause,” Adams said in an email. “When political appointees like Tom Perez[, the head of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division,] take no action after people are caught, it only encourages more bad behavior.”
Adams said Gyamfi is no different. In his recently released book “Injustice,” Adams published photos of Gyamfi’s office —which was adorned with campaign gear for now-President Barack Obama.
Spakovsky said the next step is to wait for the inspector general’s report. There is no indication as to a specific date on when the report will be published, but Spakovsky said his impression of the DOJ’s new inspector general, Cynthia Schnedar, is that she’s at least a little bit better at fulfilling her duties than her predecessor, Glenn Fine.
Spakovsky added those people that Gyamfi said she was lying to protect may still be working inside the DOJ as well. It’s unclear who Gyamfi was protecting.
Adams said this is yet another example of Holder allowing corruption to plague the DOJ instead of holding government officials accountable for lying and breaking the law.
“Holder hasn’t held anyone accountable for anything — not the people who dismissed the Black Panther case nor the people who concocted Fast and Furious,” Adams said. “Lack of accountability is another reason he [Holder] needs to go.”
Gyamfi declined to comment for this report and referred questions to the DOJ’s press office.
DOJ spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler did not respond to a request for comment on what, if anything, the DOJ and Holder plan to do to hold Gyamfi accountable.