Scott MacFarlane reports an internal review found one high-ranking federal official breaking the rules and other leaders unaware of them.
A former associate administrator at the U.S. General Services Administration had sex with a White House staffer in his government office and on the roof of the agency's northwest D.C. headquarters, an internal investigation reveals.
The investigation also revealed the official drank from a bottle of vodka in his office "after normal business hours."
The report details multiple violations of federal policies prohibiting or limiting alcohol consumption in federal offices, by high ranking officials of the GSA in 2017. The GSA is the independent federal agency which oversees federal office spaces and public buildings.
The misconduct is detailed in a written summary of an investigation conducted by the Inspector General of the General Services Administration, released to the News4 I-Team under the Freedom of Information Act.
According to the inspector general report, former associate GSA administrator Brennan Hart escorted a White House staffer into the agency's F Street headquarters on July 1, 2017. The report said Hart acknowledged he then poured drinks from the bottle of vodka he kept in his desk. According to the report, "He said their sexual activity began in the Administrator suite area and culminated with oral sex on the rooftop of the Central Office." The report said the official "stated this occurred on only one occasion."
Hart declined comment when reached by the I-Team.
Hart's employment with the agency ended in March 2018, several weeks after the inspector general interviewed him about the incident. The report redacted the name of the White House staffer involved. A copy of the inspector general report was sent to then-White House counsel Don McGahn in March 2018.
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According to the report, Hart also acknowledged drinking from the vodka bottle at his desk while with colleagues, including with the agency's former top ranking official in 2017.
Former acting GSA administrator Timothy Horne, who oversaw the agency in 2017, told investigators he also consumed alcohol after work hours and "when no one else was around," according to the inspector general report. The former administrator acknowledged he violated federal rules in doing so, according to the report.
The agency's current director, Emily Murphy, told inspector general investigators in 2018 she permitted consumption of alcohol in her office, by immediate staff after business hours on Fridays. Murphy told investigators she was unaware of the federal government's formal approval process for allowing alcoholic beverage consumption, according to the inspector general report.
In a statement to the I-Team, a GSA spokeswoman said, "GSA holds all employees to the highest ethical standards and takes appropriate actions to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. In addition to required training for federal employees, GSA holds mandatory monthly ethics trainings for GSA political appointees. GSA does not tolerate inappropriate use of alcohol in the workplace or any violation of government regulations regarding alcohol. Further, GSA does not tolerate the misuse of government property by any GSA employee."
"This report is deeply troubling and raises serious concerns about a culture of misconduct that has been allowed to fester at senior levels of the Trump administration," said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). "Federal service is about serving the American people, not partying in senior executive suites."
