Labor Department Secretary Tom Perez, who was on Hillary Clinton’s vice-presidential shortlist, covered up “widespread corruption within his agency, a whistleblower demanding an independent investigation claimed.
Former Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regional investigator Darrell Whitman — in a June 26 letter to American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) President J. David Cox first reported by the Washington Free Beacon’s Bill McMorris — called for a special prosecutor to investigate DOL.
Whitman claimed Perez retaliated against him and other OSHA investigators who reported abuse, fraud and discrimination in the department.
Whitman said Perez, rather than investigate his complaints in a May 2014 letter, “authorized and/or ratified a retaliatory investigation, which led to my removal, the removal of two other highly qualified and experienced investigators, and the resignation of a fourth highly qualified investigator who was disgusted by these developments.”
“By the end of 2015, five of the six Region IX investigators who actively objected to the corruption had been removed or forced out of their jobs,” Whitman told Cox.
Whitman said the DOL Office of Inspector General (IG) and the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) “cannot conduct a credible investigation,” because they’re too close to the situation. Whitman asked Cox to support his push for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate DOL corruption. (RELATED: Department of Labor Employees To Rally Against Obama Officials Over Discrimination Claims)
Pundits sometimes place Perez on Clinton’s VP shortlist, however Clinton announced Friday she will run with Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine. The Democratic National Convention begins Monday.
This isn’t the first time someone has claimed Perez quashed whistleblowers. Congress nearly halted his appointment in 2013 because Perez, while head of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division, prevented a whistleblower’s $200 million discrimination lawsuit from reaching the U.S. Supreme Court.
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