Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is calling on Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to investigate CBP bureaucrats for their retaliation against agency whistleblowers, and to hold all retaliators accountable for their actions.
In May, Grassley helped restore the careers of three CBP whistleblowers – Fred Wynn, Mike Taylor and Mark Jones – who faced nearly a decade of retaliation after exposing CBP’s noncompliance with the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005.
This retaliation is documented in a 2021 report by the Office of Special Counsel, which confirmed CBP Office of Intelligence (OI) management – including then-Executive Director of Intelligence Operations Ronald Ocker and then-Acting Deputy Executive Director of Intelligence Operations Juan Fernandez – engaged in whistleblower retaliation. Additionally, in May 2024, Grassley sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) detailing evidence of retaliation against the three whistleblowers by multiple CBP officials, including Ocker and Fernandez.
“I am grateful to DHS leadership and the Trump administration for bringing these whistleblowers back to their rightful roles when the Biden administration failed to do so. To ensure that retaliation does not happen again at DHS, CBP or any of the Department’s other component agencies, the bureaucrats who retaliated against Mr. Wynn, Mr. Taylor, and Mr. Jones must be held accountable,” Grassley wrote.
“I am requesting that CBP investigate these reported instances of whistleblower retaliation and hold accountable, as appropriate, all individuals responsible for the seven-year nightmare these brave whistleblowers endured,” Grassley concluded.
Read Grassley’s full letter to CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott HERE, which includes copies of the Special Counsel report and Grassley’s 2024 letter to DHS OIG.
