Grassley questions Kerry on alleged human rights violations at State

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is digging into allegations of human rights violations at the State Department, after a top watchdog suggested more needs to be done to hold employees accountable.

The Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, after the State Department’s Officer of Inspector General (OIG) found that two out of three recommendations from a 2011 report had not been fully implemented.

{mosads}In particular, Grassley wants details on a case involving Linda Howard, a former U.S. diplomat, and her husband Russell Howard, who have been accused of raping and abusing a former housekeeper in 2008.

And the Iowa Republican wants to know what former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her top aides knew about the allegations.

“This case, viewed in light of … [the] OIG report, raises questions about the Department’s commitment to holding itself to the same standard by which it judges other countries in assessing their compliance with anti-trafficking standards in its annual TIP [Trafficking in Persons] report,” Grassley wrote in the letter to Kerry, which was sent Thursday but released on Friday.

Grassley wants to know if Clinton, or top aides including Cheryl Mills, Huma Abedin, or Jake Sullivan, knew about “allegations, decisions, findings, or news reports” about the Howards. He is asking Kerry to provide records, including emails, if they were aware of the allegations, or explain why they did not know about the incident.

The Iowa Republican also wants Kerry to detail the department’s full investigation into the 2008 case, including when the housekeeper was interviewed, who was responsible for the investigation, if the Howards were interviewed, if the department took administrative action against the former U.S. diplomat, and how the State Department makes sure its foreign service officers follow human trafficking laws.

Grassley wants to know if the department had received complaints about either of the Howards before the 2008 incident, as well as Linda Howard’s employment history with the department, noting that she reportedly still worked at the State Department in 2012.

The probe comes as Grassley and congressional Republicans are digging into the State Department and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure.

Grassley also asked Kerry if Clinton or her aides know about the 2011 recommendations from the State Department watchdog that have yet to be implemented and, more broadly, why the recommendations haven’t been put in place and who is responsible.

The letter isn’t the first time Grassley has questioned Kerry on the department’s ability to monitor its employees. He and 17 other lawmakers sent a letter to Kerry earlier this year, “expressing concern about lax State Department policies regarding employees’ solicitations for sex.”