Exclusive | Sen. Chuck Grassley demands probe of ‘bureaucrats’ who sidelined CBP whistleblowers –

WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is demanding an investigation of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials who allegedly retaliated against whistleblowers who flagged failures to fingerprint potentially dangerous criminal migrants, The Post can exclusively reveal.

The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman fired off a letter Monday to CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott naming and shaming those “bureaucrats” who were promoted even after they sidelined whistleblowers Fred Wynn, Mike Taylor and Mark Jones.

“To ensure that retaliation does not happen again at [Department of Homeland Security], CBP, or any of the Department’s other component agencies, the bureaucrats that retaliated against Mr. Wynn, Mr. Taylor, and Mr. Jones must be held accountable,” Grassley told Scott.

“Although it’s unclear to me whether all retaliators have faced consequences, I’ve been made aware that some have been promoted,” he added.

The Iowa Republican singled out Ronald Ocker, assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Intelligence, and Juan Fernandez, the executive director of that office, for having “improperly removed” the whistleblowers nearly a decade ago from a pilot program to implement the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005.

Jones, Taylor and Wynn worked in the agency’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Division between 2016 and 2018 — and found out that federal law enforcement officers weren’t enforcing the statute.

As a result, DNA from criminal arrestees hadn’t been collected since 2009, allowing “subjects subsequently accused of violent crimes, including homicide and sexual assault, to elude detection even when detained multiple times by CBP or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” according to an earlier investigation by the US Office of Special Counsel (OSC).

Those “exceptions to DNA sample collection from criminal arrestees” had been approved by former Attorney General Eric Holder during the Barack Obama administration.

“I believe that if you could get the totality for that period of time [since 2009] … of how many Americans ended up being killed as a result, I think it probably exceeds the number of Americans who died on 9/11,” one source with direct knowledge of the security failure previously told The Post.

When the whistleblowers drew attention to the issue, they faced professional and financial consequences — including being kicked off of the WMD pilot program by Ocker and Fernandez, according to Grassley’s letter.

Jones, who served as acting director of the pilot WMD fingerprint program, was passed over for the director position at a new office called the Operational Field Testing Division, which conducted similar law enforcement work

Taylor lost retirement benefits and had his pension payments stopped. Both he and Jones were also stripped of their guns and badges.

OSC’s investigation concluded that CBP officials “retaliated against” the three agents “for actual or perceived disclosures of wrongdoing,” Grassley noted in his letter.

“OSC also noted that Fernandez did not name Mr. Jones Acting Deputy Director of Operational Field Testing Division (OFTD), despite stating in a March 6, 2018, email that it would happen,” the senator also stated.

“Further, OSC found that both Ocker and Fernandez engaged in retaliation when they passed Mr. Jones over for Director of the OFTD when it stated, ‘the agency does not have strong evidence in support of its stated reason or decision not to interview Mr. Jones or fairly consider him for the OFTD Director position.’”

Jones, Taylor and Wynn were only given new supervisory roles, backpay and their retirement benefits back in May after Grassley highlighted the “seven-year nightmare these brave whistleblowers endured.”

In his April confirmation hearing, Scott had promised Grassley he would “look into” the case and “hold people accountable if they’ve violated policies.”

“Thank you for always stepping up and supporting the whistleblowers. I think it’s a critical part of our government, it pushes transparency,” Scott also told the Republican senator.

“I do know those three, and I know one allegation that’s never been levied against them is a challenge of their integrity.”

Grassley had also relayed details of the case to DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari in May 2024. That office is still believed to be investigating the matter as well.

Reps for CBP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.