Report Reveals 'Widespread' Nepotism within Department of Justice Division

An investigative report alleges that inside the Justice Management Division (JMD) of the U.S. Department of Justice, family connections, rather than the merits of work history or expertise, are the surest path to gainful employment.

In its July 2012 report, the DOJ's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) cited at least 14 incidents of nepotism over a two-year span beginning in August 2008, during which several employees at the highest levels of the division got their own friends and family hired. The hirings violated anti-nepotism rules, federal law and other standards, according to the OIG.

In one instance, two senior JMD officials "simultaneously attempted" to get the other's child a job within the division, the OIG reported. Another top-ranking JMD official got her son a job in the division in June 2010 after telling a human resources official that he couldn't find an internship.

The redacted report, which relied on e-mails, job postings, online applications and interviews with 30 current and former DOJ employees, provides in-depth details on other examples of nepotism and, according to a memorandum from JMD Assistant Attorney General Lee Lofthus, "clearly established that inappropriate hiring occurred regarding relatives of JMD employees."

"While it was a small number of JMD staffs and individuals implicated in the investigation," Lofthus wrote in his memorandum to Inspector General Michael Horowitz, "the report was particularly troubling as it identified hiring improprieties for the third time in eight years.”

"The report recommends, and I will put in place," Lofthus added, "appropriate and immediate corrective actions to ensure the problems are not repeated, and will pursue disciplinary and other actions as appropriate based on the circumstances of each of the cases raised in the report."

The JMD advises "the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of various issues related to the operation of the Department," according to the DOJ website. The inspector general alleges that there were eight different current or former senior JMD officials who "violated applicable statutes and regulations in seeking the appointment of their relatives to positions within (the division)." The officials were identified by the OIG as "career employees," meaning they were not political appointees.

One of them was Pamela Cabell-Edelen, JMD's assistant director of human resources, who "undertook a sustained campaign to secure employment for her daughter," the OIG report said.

After Cabell-Edelen "repeatedly improperly advocated for her daughter's appointment to various DOJ positions," she was hired in November 2009 as a secretary for Edward Hamilton, the director of JMD's Facilities and Administrative Services Staff. Earlier that year, Cabell-Edelen also had a job posting changed to improve her daughter's chances at getting a position, which she ultimately failed to secure.

Two months later, in January 2010, Cabell-Edelen returned Hamilton's favor when she hired his son as a payroll specialist under a federal internship–a position for which the junior Hamilton, who worked previously as a security guard and as an airport passenger screener, was unqualified.

The report concluded that Cabell-Edelen also made "multiple false statements under oath" during her interview with OIG investigators and that Hamilton intentionally misled OIG "in an effort to minimize the extent of his involvement in getting his son a job.”

Ultimately, the OIG found that both Cabell-Edelen and Hamilton had violated multiple standards, including the federal nepotism statute, which states that a "public official may not appoint, employ, promote, advance, or advocate for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement, in or to a civilian position within the agency in which he is serving or over which he exercises jurisdiction or control any individual who is a relative of the public official."

Cabell-Edelen retired in January 2011, shortly after OIG began its investigation of JMD hiring practices. When OIG investigators asked her for follow-up interviews, she declined. Hamilton faces undisclosed disciplinary action based on OIG's recommendations.

In the course of its investigation, OIG found that Cabell-Edelen's superior, HR Director Rodney Markham, was especially candid about "the widespread nature of the preferential hiring of friends and family within JMD," the report said. Not only did Markham get his own cousin and nephew jobs within the division, he also facilitated internship appointments for relatives of JMD employees, for which more than 2,000 applications were submitted in 2010 to fill just five paid summer positions.

Markham told OIG investigators that the selection process for the internships was "not very structured," and that he had "no qualms about the selection of candidates who–all else being equal–are selected simply because they happen to have DOJ relatives who recommended them to DOJ hiring officials."

"[Y]ou don't have the ability to screen those kids based on a set of competencies... Honestly guys," Markham told the OIG, "It's word-of-mouth and being in good (academic) standing." He added to investigators that he receives resumes "all the time" and that "[i]t's usually a friend or colleague or someone has a son or daughter in college that's looking to get some experience."

Markham followed Cabell-Edelen's lead and also left DOJ prior to the release of the OIG report.

In his memorandum, Lofthus concurred with all of the OIG's recommendations, which include revising JMD training materials to "conform to the Nepotism Statute." Lofthus said that DOJ has "already updated our training materials and will incorporate them in our upcoming training classes immediately."

Lofthus added that DOJ has also developed an applicant disclosure form "that requires applicants disclose whether they have relatives working at DOJ." JMD will also certify that no relative of an applicant exerts influence on hiring decisions, he said.

"[T]he results of this investigation were very disappointing to me," Lofthus added. "I want JMD to genuinely fulfill its role in ensuring fairness in hiring and providing sound human resources management across the Department."

Sources: "Report Regarding Investigation of Improper Hiring Practices in the Justice Management Division," U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Oversight and Review Division, July 2012; www.foxnews.com

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