U.S. State Department Whistleblower Seeks Congressional Protection After State Department officials Threaten Her Kids

Whistle-Blower Alleges State Dept. Squelched Probes -- USA Today

Whistle-blower Aurelia Fedenisn says State Department investigators threatened to prosecute her for providing documents to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

A State Department whistle-blower says she was threatened after turning over documents to a U.S. senator that alleged coverups of investigations into employee use of drugs and prostitutes, her lawyer says.

The whistle-blower's allegations have led lawmakers on Capitol Hill to look into whether the State Department squelched investigations into criminal behavior by employees, including an ambassador who allegedly propositioned prostitutes in a Belgian city park.

Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a letter Tuesday to Secretary of State John Kerry asking for a briefing about the allegations detailed in recent news reports.

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Update: State Department Whistleblower, a Career Foreign Service Officer, Seeks Congressional Protection After State Threatens Her Kids -- PJ Media

My Comment: If true .... these reports are outrageous. But what is even more outrageous is the almost universal silence from the main stream media on this story.

Why Did The U.S. State Department Hire Agents With Criminal Backgrounds?

(Kevin Lamarque/Courtesy Reuters).

State Department Has Hired Agents With Criminal Records, Memo Reveals -- New York Post

WASHINGTON — The State Department has hired an alarming number of law-enforcement agents with criminal or checkered backgrounds because of a flawed hiring process, a stunning memo obtained by The Post reveals.

The background problems are severe enough that many of the roughly 2,000 agents in State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security can play only limited roles in agency efforts to police bad conduct and prosecute wrongdoers.

The problems in the bureau are the latest revelation in an exploding scandal that also involves accusations that members of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s security detail and those of the US ambassador to Belgium solicited prostitutes overseas.

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Update: Revealed: State Department employs 'TWO THOUSAND agents with criminal records or checkered backgrounds' -- Daily Mail

My Comment: Couple this with recent reports that senior officials in the U.S. State Department were covering up overseas misconduct .... it makes you wonder on what was then U.S. Secretary of State Clinton doing when she was the senior official of the State Department.

Update: Clinton confidante at center of Benghazi damage-control tied to probe of suspected diplomat crimes -- Washington Times

US State Department Accused Of Covering-Up Sex And Prostitution Investigation

US State Department Accused Of Covering-up Overseas Misconduct -- Voice of America

STATE DEPARTMENT — A U.S. television network is alleging that State Department officials have tried to cover up alleged sexual misconduct by American diplomats serving overseas.

The U.S. broadcaster CBS News says it has obtained a memo from the State Department's Inspector General reporting that several recent investigations into misconduct overseas were influenced or manipulated.

The CBS News report says the memo cites specific examples. Among them are allegations that a State Department security official in Beirut "engaged in sexual assaults" on foreign nationals hired as embassy guards. There also are allegations that members of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's security detail "engaged prostitutes while on official trips in foreign countries."

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More News On The US State Department Being Accused Of Covering-Up A Sex And Prostitution Investigation

Ambassador responds to allegations of misconduct from State Department memo -- NBC
State Department: No cover-up for diplomats -- Washington Times
US state department officials in 'sex and drugs scandal' -- BBC
Revealed: The U.S. ambassador accused of 'soliciting prostitutes in public parks' as damning internal memo accuses State Department of sex scandal cover-up -- Daily Mail
Prostitution, drugs alleged in State Department memo -- CNN
State Department may have covered up sex and drug scandals, report says -- Christian Science Monitor
State Dept accused of covering up sex and prostitution investigation -- FOX News
State Department Reviewing Cover-Up Claims on Prostitutes, Drugs -- Bloomberg Businessweek
REPORT: The State Department May Have Covered Up Incidents Of Sexual Assault And Engaging With Prostitutes -- Business Insider
Whistleblower: Hillary's Chief of Staff Quashed State Dept. Scandal Investigation -- Breitbart
Hillary’s State Department Sex Scandal -- Jonathan S. Tobin, Commentary
The Ambassador and the underage hooker? -- Ed Lasky, American Thinker

Another Major Washington Scandal Developing But This One Involves The U.S. State Department

State Department Memo Reveals Possible Cover-Ups, Halted Investigations -- CBS

(CBS News) CBS News has uncovered documents that show the State Department may have covered up allegations of illegal and inappropriate behavior within their ranks.

The Diplomatic Security Service, or the DSS, is the State Department's security force, charged with protecting the secretary of state and U.S. ambassadors overseas and with investigating any cases of misconduct on the part of the 70,000 State Department employees worldwide.

CBS News' John Miller reports that according to an internal State Department Inspector General's memo, several recent investigations were influenced, manipulated, or simply called off. The memo obtained by CBS News cited eight specific examples. Among them: allegations that a State Department security official in Beirut "engaged in sexual assaults" on foreign nationals hired as embassy guards and the charge and that members of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's security detail "engaged prostitutes while on official trips in foreign countries" -- a problem the report says was "endemic."

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Update: CBS News: U.S. State Department Cover-Ups Range From Prostitution Charges To Drug Rings -- CBS

My Comment: This occurred when US Secretary of State Clinton was in charge .... and if this CBS report is accurate .... more ammo for her critics. This report is damning on every scale.

Did The US State Department Learn Anything From Benghazi?

Internal Probe Finds US Embassy In Beirut Insecure, Lacks Terror Training -- Washington Guardian

State Department didn't even list Beirut as high risk despite violence, Hezbollah presence. Insecurity persists three decades after Marine barracks bombing

The State Department is failing to adequately protect U.S. diplomats in Beirut, leaving them without necessary counterterrorism training and serving in a decrepit, aged embassy compound that fails to meet security protocols, according to an internal investigation that raises new questions about the Obama administration's commitment to protecting Americans overseas in the aftermath of the Benghazi tragedy.

In fact, the department did not place Beirut on its latest list of high-threat diplomatic missions even though Lebanon is listed at the "critical" threat level for potential violence with its frequent rocket attacks, spillovers from the Syrian civil war and heavy presence of the terror group Hezbollah, the agency's inspector general said in a report reviewed by the Washington Guardian.

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My Comment: I suspect that this is not one of the top places for diplomats to find themselves being posted.

State Department Changes Story On Afghanistan Blast That Killed Diplomat

Shades Of Benghazi: State Department Changes Story On Afghanistan Blast That Killed Diplomat -- Washington Times

The State Department has acknowledged that five U.S. personnel killed in Afghanistan, including 25-year-old diplomat Anne Smedinghoff, were on foot when they were attacked by a suicide bomber, and not in an armored vehicle, as officials had told bereaved relatives earlier this week.

The violent deaths of U.S. diplomatic personnel — and the State Department’s changing account of how they died — harken back to the debacle in Benghazi, Libya, where Islamist extremists killed four Americans in assaults on the U.S. diplomatic compound on Sept. 11.

“We are able to clarify at this point that they were in a walking movement from the [Provincial Reconstruction Team’s base] down to the school down the road,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters Wednesday.

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Update #1: Witness: Anne Smedinghoff, other Americans killed in Afghan bombing were on foot, lost -- McClatchy News
Update #2: The Death Of A Young Diplomat Is Only Half The Tragedy In Zabul -- Gary Owen, Business Insider/It's Always Sunny In Kabul

My Comment: Gary Owen's above comments sums up my own feelings on this tragedy .... in short .... these Americans died for nothing. As for the State Department changing their story on how she died .... for some reason I am not surprised.

Another Benghazi Consulate Attack Coming Soon?

Attack on US Consulate in Benghazi (Photo: Reuters)

More Than Half U.S. Diplomatic Posts May Not Meet Security Rules -- Reuters

* Security under scrutinity following Benghazi attack
* Facilities at 153 posts may not meet current standards
* Can be difficult to find sufficient land in capital cities

WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - More than half the U.S. diplomatic posts overseas may not fully meet security standards, a senior U.S. official told a hearing on Thursday that follows an attack on the mission in Benghazi in which the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans died.

Pat Kennedy, the under secretary of state for management at the State Department, told a House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee that the United States had a diplomatic presence at 283 locations around the world.

He said 97 safe and secure facilities had been completed since the 1999 passage of a U.S. law authorizing additional funding for security upgrades, including 70 full replacements of embassies or consulates, as well as some building of Marine guard quarters and office annexes.

"There remain approximately 158 posts that have facilities that may not fully meet current security standards," he said.

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My Comment: US Secretary of State John Kerry has noticed this, and has in fact said the following .... sequester will 'seriously impair' safety, security at U.S. diplomatic facilities. All good and well .... which is why (maybe) he should take the comments that he made here and here and advocate that this money be put for U.S. diplomatic security. Hmmmm .... I doubt that he will.

U.S. State Department To Coordinate With The Pentagon On Troop Locations In Case Of Trouble At Diplomatic Missions

White House photographer Pete Souza posts this picture of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton greeting the remains of the four Americans — including U.S. Amb. Christopher Stephens — who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Clinton Briefed On Troop Locations In Case Of Trouble At Diplomatic Missions -- CNN

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is coordinating with the U. S. Defense Department to monitor where forces are deployed in case they are needed to quickly come to the defense of U.S. diplomatic facilities around the world.

A senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Clinton in Southeast Asia that she "has been getting regular briefings from the assistant to the chairman, a three-star admiral who travels with us ... who she's tasked with staying on top of where relevant forces are positioned to be able to come to the aid of our State Department facilities if that is ever required."

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My Comment: At least the Benghazi debacle has taught the State Department to take a second look at their security arrangements.

US Secretary Of State Clinton Wants More Time To Complete An Internal Review On What Went Wrong In Libya

A burnt car parked outside the U.S. consulate in Benghazi after the attack. Photo: REUTERS

Clinton Pins Hopes On Internal Review To Answer Mounting Questions On What Went Wrong In Libya -- FOX News

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded to mounting questions Wednesday about what went wrong in Libya and who's responsible by asking for more time to complete an internal review, saying, "nobody will hold this department more accountable than we hold ourselves."

The secretary vowed to get to the bottom of the terror attack that killed four Americans last month in response to a letter by Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, claiming the department turned down requests for more security amid a string of attacks and threats in the lead-up to the Sept. 11 strike.

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My Comment: So the U.S. State Department is reviewing and investigating itself .... leaving out Congress who are the ones who are constitutionally responsible for oversight. Add insult to injury .... the FBI is still not at the US consulate in Benghazi to conduct an investigation .... so how can the US State Department determine what went wrong in Libya when they are not even there?

While some are of the belief that there are darker motives involved .... I am holding the opinion that what we are actually witnessing is classic CYA (cover your ass) behavior. The goal now is to delay everything until after the US Presidential election .... and then make some token changes and admissions that some serious mistakes that were made.

Update: Predictably, the U.S. Congress is losing patience.
 

Sensitve US Documents Still Unsecured At The US Consulate In Benghazi

The caskets of U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens, Foreign Service officer Sean Smith, and security officers Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Doherty are escorted through an honor cordon on Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sept. 14, 2012. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo

Sensitive Documents Left Behind At American Mission In Libya -- Washington Post

BENGHAZI, Libya — More than three weeks after attacks in this city killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans, sensitive documents remained only loosely secured in the remains of the U.S. mission here on Wednesday, offering visitors easy access to delicate details about American operations in Libya.

Documents detailing weapons collection efforts, emergency evacuation protocols, the full internal itinerary of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens’s trip and the personnel records of Libyans who were contracted to secure the mission were among the items scattered across the floors of the looted compound when a Washington Post reporter and a translator visited Wednesday.

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My Comment: What strikes me about this Washington Post report is that one of the documents found was dated two days before the attack, and it outlines concerns on the possibility of a terror attack on the consulate. Siggghhhhh .... as I have said repeatedly in the past three weeks .... this is a colossal security and intelligence failure on the part of the US State Department. Questions need to be asked .... and the answers better be provided.

U.S. Diplomats In Libya Pleaded For More Security, But US State Department Declined Their Requests

Deadly attack: The consulate, located in the city of Benghazi, was reportedly bombed twice in the months leading up to the attack, which occurred on the 11th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks. Daily Mail

U.S. Officials Sought Security Before Libya Attack: Lawmakers -- Reuters

(Reuters) - U.S. officials in Libya asked repeatedly for more security at their mission in Benghazi before the September 11 attack that killed four Americans there, but Washington denied the requests, leaders of a congressional committee said on Tuesday.

U.S. Representatives Darrell Issa and Jason Chaffetz wrote a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanding details of the requests for more security.

They said the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold an October 10 hearing on the Benghazi attack.

"Multiple U.S. federal government officials have confirmed to the committee that, prior to the September 11 attack, the U.S. mission in Libya made repeated requests for increased security in Benghazi," Issa and Chaffetz wrote.

"The mission in Libya, however, was denied these resources by officials in Washington," the Republican lawmakers said.

Read more ....

More News On US Diplomat Requests For More Security In Benghazi Were Denied

House committee: security requests denied in Libya -- AP
Diplomats' Libyan security requests denied -- The Australian
House: U.S. Embassy in Libya asked for extra security, request denied -- Washington Examiner
GOP demands answers on Libya security -- AJC

My Comment: I hope that these Republican lawmaker claims are not true .... but if true .... this is a scandal .... and someone in the US State department has clearly dropped the ball. Individuals need to be held accountable starting with the US Secretary of State.

Update: This explains why US diplomats in Benghazi wanted more security. More news and info on this story is here.

Update #2: White House Has No Comment on House GOPers’ Assertions that Libyan Mission Requested Security Prior to 9/11/12 Attack -- ABC News

Will The U.S. Government Cut Embassy Protection After What Happened This Week?

Yemeni demonstrators scale the front gate of the U.S. embassy in Sana'a. Daily Mail

US Government Spending Cuts Include $129m A Year For Embassy Protection -- The Guardian

White House budget office says automatic cuts – many focused on defence spending – would have a 'devastating impact'

The US government will slash spending targeted for the protection of embassies around the world as part of a $100bn program of automatic spending cuts set to be start this January if Congress can not find a compromise.

The news comes after ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans died following attacks the US consulate and a safe house refuge in Benghazi on Tuesday night. US embassies across the Muslim world are now being targeted by protesters angered by a video that denigrated the prophet Muhammad.

Read more ....

My Comment: I do not expect this happen .... what I do expect if sequestration kicks in is a supplemental bill to cover this shortfall.

U.S. State Department In Full Crisis Mode

State Department Sets Up 24-Hour Monitoring Team For Embassy Crisis -- The Cable/Foreign Policy

The State Department has gone into full-blown crisis mode, organizing a round-the-clock effort to coordinate the U.S. government's response to the expanding attacks on U.S. embassies in the Middle East and North Africa.

"The State Department has stood up a 24-hr monitoring team to insure appropriate coordination of information and our response. In addition, our consular team is working with missions around the world to protect American citizens and issue appropriate public warden information," a senior State Department official told reporters Friday afternoon.

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My Comment: From news media reports .... it looks like the entire Muslim world is enraged .... targeting U.S. government and commercial interests as well as our allies . What's my take .... this has been building up for a very long time .... and radical Islamists are now taking full advantage of this situation to bring about as much mayhem and chaos against us and our allies in the Muslim world.

Who Was Responsible For The PR Disaster At The Cairo Embassy?

Inside The Public Relations Disaster At The Cairo Embassy -- Foreign Policy

One staffer at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo was responsible for the statement and tweets Tuesday that have become grist for the presidential campaign, and that staffer ignored explicit State Department instructions not to issue the statement, one U.S. official close to the issue told The Cable.

Two additional administration officials confirmed the details of this account when contacted late Wednesday by The Cable.

The statement, issued as a press release on the U.S. Embassy website, has been attacked by Republican challenger Mitt Romney, lawmakers, and conservatives around the country as an inappropriate "apology" and a failure to stand up for American principles such as freedom of speech.

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My Comment: And this State Department official is still at his post .... he must know someone very important.

US Ambassador To Kenya Resigns After 'Leadership Style' Complaints

Photo: Official photograph of U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration

US Envoy To Kenya Resigns After 'Threatening To Shoot Staff In Head' -- The Telegraph

The US ambassador to Kenya resigned after complaints he bullied staff and threatened to "shoot them in the head" if they did not comply with his orders, it has been alleged.

Scott Gration, who had led the US embassy in Nairobi since February last year, stepped down late last week, citing "differences with Washington regarding my leadership style".

It is understood that the State Department's inspector general is preparing to release a scathing report on Mr Gration, who is a close ally of President Barack Obama, following an extensive internal inquiry.

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My Comment: As to why he is resigning .... he is citing "differences with Washington regarding my leadership style".

:)

He is a retired Major General .... hmmm .... someone should have told him that the State Department is NOT the Defense department.

On a serious note .... Kenya is on the front-line in the war against terror groups in Africa. A better vetting process should have been imposed.

U.S. State Department Getting Ready For Iraq

CONTINUING TO SERVE
With their hands raised, 126 U.S. service members rehearse before a mass re-enlistment ceremony on Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, Oct. 5, 2011. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo

State Department Readies Iraq Operation, Its Biggest Since Marshall Plan -- Washington Post

The State Department is racing against an end-of-year deadline to take over Iraq operations from the U.S. military, throwing up buildings and marshalling contractors in its biggest overseas operation since the effort to rebuild Europe after World War II.

While attention in Washington and Baghdad has centered on the number of U.S. troops that may remain in Iraq, they will be dwarfed by an estimated 16,000 civilians under the American ambassador — the size of an Army division.

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My Comment: The U.S. State Department (and the Iraqis) better not screw it up .... because there is no fall-back plan if things get 'hairy'.

War Against Paperwork Declared By Hillary Clinton

Clinton Declares War On Paperwork In State Department -- Washington Post

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has declared war on paperwork in her agency.

Clinton announced Wednesday that she has dispatched her staff to eliminate the mind-numbing reports routinely required of U.S. diplomats, acknowledging that most of the thousands of reports ordered up every year "are never read."

"All too often, you and your officers are tied to desks fulfilling hundreds of reporting requirements mandated by both Congress and the [State] Department," Clinton told a group of ambassadors gathered in Washington for the Global Chiefs of Mission conference.

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My Comment: Declaring war against paperwork .... LOL .... I wish her and the State Department the best.

U.S. State Department's Future: Trying To Do More With Less

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosts a town hall meeting to discuss the release of the first Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, "Leading Through Civilian Power," with Department of State employees, in the Dean Acheson Auditorium of the Department of State in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, Dec. 15, 2010. (Xinhua/Zhang Jun)

Hillary Clinton's Vision For Foreign Policy On A Tight Budget -- Christian Science Monitor

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday unveiled a 150-page QDDR, or Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. The goal, she said, is to 'lead through civilian power.'

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday unveiled a foreign-policy road map for the 21st century, which elevates the role of development in pursuing national security and envisions a civilian lead in addressing the rising challenges associated with fragile and failed states.

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More News On The U.S. State Department First Quadrennial Diplomacy And Development Review

Secretary Clinton at Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review -- U.S. State Department

Clinton unveils State Department's Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review -- Foreign Policy
Clinton unveils blueprint for America's diplomatic arm -- CNN
Clinton announces State Department review stressing conflict prevention -- Washington Post
Clinton launches reform of US diplomacy -- AFP
Clinton Pledges Bigger Role for Besieged State Department -- New York Times
Clinton Presents Plan to Overhaul State Department Operations -- Bloomberg
Clinton Seeks To Revamp Diplomacy, Development -- NPR/AP
Revamped U.S. foreign policy approach focuses on development -- Xinhuanet

As U.S. Combat Soldiers Leave Iraq, The U.S. State Department Moves In With Their Own Army

State Dept. Planning To Field A Small Army In Iraq -- McClatchy News

WASHINGTON — Can diplomats field their own army? The State Department is laying plans to do precisely that in Iraq, in an unprecedented experiment that U.S. officials and some nervous lawmakers say could be risky.

In little more than a year, State Department contractors in Iraq could be driving armored vehicles, flying aircraft, operating surveillance systems, even retrieving casualties if there are violent incidents and disposing of unexploded ordnance.

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My Comment: The Iraq Army is not ready, and U.S. personnel on the ground will be exposed once U.S. combat soldiers are gone. This may make sense in the political world of Washington where it was expedient to proclaim that U.S. combat soldiers will be gone at a certain date, but it is not reflective on what is the security situation in the country. Hence .... this creation of a small (but necessary) army for the State Department.

Bringing Diplomacy Into The Digital Age

Jared Cohen, left, and Alec Ross with mobile devices at the ready. Michele Asselin for The New York Times

Digital Diplomacy -- New York Times

It was a Wednesday night in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, and Jared Cohen, the youngest member of the State Department’s policy planning staff, and Alec Ross, the first senior adviser for innovation to the secretary of state, were taking their tweeting very seriously. Cohen had spent the day in transit from D.C.; Ross hadn’t eaten anything besides a morning muffin. Yet they were in the mood to share, and dinner could wait. It wasn’t every day they got to tweet about visiting the headquarters of Twitter.

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My Comment: Another article that outlines the importance and impact of social networks and new technologies on all aspects of government (and governing).

Read it all.