Joseph V. Cuffari

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Joseph Cuffari
Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security
Assumed office
July 25, 2019
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Preceded byJennifer Costello (Acting)
Personal details
Born
Joseph Vincent Cuffari

1959 (age 61–62)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Education

Joseph Vincent Cuffari is the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, serving since 2019. He previously held positions in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, and as a policy advisor to Arizona Governors Jan Brewer and Doug Ducey.

Education and early career[]

Cuffari was born in 1959 in Philadelphia.[1] He enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1977, immediately after graduating high school. He served over 40 years in the Air Force including service on active duty, in the Air Force Reserve, and in the Arizona Air National Guard.[2] In 1984, he received a B.S. degree in business administration and management information systems from the University of Arizona.[1][2] While on active duty he rose to hold leadership positions in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.[2]

Between 1993 and 2013, he worked for the Department of Justice, culminating in an assignment as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge for the Office of the Inspector General in Tucson, Arizona.[2] He received a M.A. in management from Webster University in 1995, and a Ph.D. in Management from California Coast University in 2002, an online for-profit university characterized as a "diploma mill" by the Government Accountability Office.[3][4] Cuffari's government bio incorrectly claimed his PhD was in philosophy.[3] At the time he attended, California Coast University was unaccredited, but it has since received accreditation.[5] During this time he also worked for the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General.[1][2]

He was a policy advisor for Military and Veterans Affairs for Governors Jan Brewer and Doug Ducey of Arizona.[2]

DHS Inspector General[]

Cuffari was nominated by Donald Trump[6] and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) on July 25, 2019.[2] Upon being confirmed he pledged to continue unannounced inspections of immigration detention facilities.[7]

Cuffari rejected his staff’s recommendation to investigate what role the United States Secret Service played in the forcible clearing of protesters from Lafayette Square for a photo opportunity of President Trump in front of St. John's Church on June 1st, 2020.[6]

Cuffari also sought to limit the scope of the investigation into the spread of COVID-19 within the Secret Service, which had been attributed to the Trump Re-Election Campaign not following COVID guidelines.[8][9] It was later reported that 881 employees of the Secret Service had been infected with COVID, more than 11% of the agency.[10]

Following Brian Murphy's September 2020 whistleblower complaint about Chad Wolf, Ken Cuccinelli, and Kirstjen Nielsen politicizing Department of Homeland Security assets to support the views of both Stephen Miller and Donald Trump, Cuffari began his inspector general (IG) investigation into alleged misconduct at Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after the November 2020 elections.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17] The DHS Office of Intelligence & Analysis released no "intelligence products specific for January 6", 2021, attack on the capitol.[18] On April 27, 2021, Brian Volsky, the former head of the DHS inspector general's whistleblower protection unit, filed a memo with CIGIE accusing Cuffari, James Read, who was the DHS IG counsel to Cuffari and Kristen Fredricks, who was Cuffari's DHS IG chief of staff, of mishandling Brian Murphy's complaints.[19][20]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "HSGAC Biographical Questions for Executive Nominees" (PDF). U.S. Congress. 2018-11-21. pp. 30ff. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "Meet the IG". U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Lanard, Noah. "The DHS inspector general claimed to have a philosophy PhD. He doesn't". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  4. ^ "Meet the IG". Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  5. ^ "California Coast University". Distance Education and Training Council. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Leonnig, Carol D. (20 April 2021). "DHS watchdog declined to pursue investigations into Secret Service during Trump administration, documents show". Washington Post. Joseph Cuffari, the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, rejected his staff’s recommendation to investigate what role the Secret Service played in the forcible clearing of protesters from Lafayette Square on June 1, according to internal documents and two people familiar with his decision, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the discussions.
  7. ^ Flores, Adolfo (2019-07-29). "Trump's New Immigration Watchdog Said He Will Conduct More Inspections On Detention Facilities". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  8. ^ Leonnig, Carol D. (20 April 2021). "DHS watchdog declined to pursue investigations into Secret Service during Trump administration, documents show". Washington Post. Cuffari told the team they should narrow the probe, and suggested only examining how the spread of the coronavirus affected the Secret Service’s investigative work rather than its protection assignments. But coronavirus infections in the Secret Service were falling the hardest on agents and officers working protective roles, who were required to travel around the country to secure public rallies for Trump’s campaign.
  9. ^ Grace Hauck; Joshua Bote. "President Trump and his staff defied CDC coronavirus guidelines 27 times since Sept. 1". USA TODAY.
  10. ^ Boak, Josh (2021-06-22). "Almost 900 Secret Service employees were infected with COVID". Assoc. Secret Service records show that 881 people on the agency payroll were diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 1, 2020 and March 9, 2021, according to documents obtained by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. More than 11% of Secret Service employees were infected.
  11. ^ Murphy, Brian (September 8, 2020). "In the Matter of Murphy, Brian Principal Deputy Under Secretary Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence & Analysis Complaint" (PDF). United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Retrieved September 10, 2020. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. ^ Devereaux, Ryan (September 12, 2020). "BlueLeaks Documents Bolster Whistleblower Account of Intelligence Tampering at Homeland Security: The Department of Homeland Security has become an armed extension of Trumpism". The Intercept. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  13. ^ Devereaux, Ryan (July 25, 2020). "Before Portland, Trump's Shock Troops Went After Border Activists". The Intercept. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  14. ^ Wolf, Chad (September 9, 2020). "'One Mission': Acting Secretary Wolf Delivers 2020 State of the Homeland Address". Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  15. ^ Kanno-Youngs, Zolan; Fandos, Nicholas (September 9, 2020). "D.H.S. Downplayed Threats From Russia and White Supremacists, Whistle-Blower Says: Brian Murphy, the former head of the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence division, accused senior leaders of warping the agency around President Trump's political interests". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 10, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  16. ^ Kanno-Youngs, Zolan; Goldman, Adam (August 1, 2020). "Homeland Security Reassigns Official Whose Office Compiled Intelligence on Journalists: Brian Murphy's office compiled reports of protesters and journalists who were covering the Trump administration's response to unrest in Portland last month". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  17. ^ Kanno-Youngs, Zolan; Sullivan, Eileen (July 1, 2021). "Homeland Security Watchdog Delayed Inquiry, Complaint Says: The department's inspector general delayed looking into a retaliation complaint by a former intelligence chief until after the 2020 election, according to officials and a whistle-blower". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  18. ^ Wise, Lindsay; Levy, Rachael (June 30, 2021). "House Approves Creation of Select Committee to Probe Jan. 6 Attack: Democrats support panel after bipartisan commission was blocked by Senate Republicans". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  19. ^ Zagorin, Adam; Schwellenbach, Nick (July 1, 2021). "Did Whistleblower Reprisal Help Set the Stage for a January 6 Intelligence Failure?". Project On Government Oversight (POGO) (pogo.org). Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  20. ^ Volsky, Brian (April 27, 2021). "CIGIE Integrity Committee Complaint: Brian Volsky's April 27, 2021 Complaint Filed With CIGIE". CIGIE (ignet.gov). Retrieved September 2, 2021.

External links[]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/secret-service-trump-inspector-general/2021/04/19/87f20cc6-9eea-11eb-9d05-ae06f4529ece_story.html

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