The Foreign Service Journal, December 2020

14 DECEMBER 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL TALKING POINTS Sexual Harassment Up at State, OIG Finds A State Department Office of the Inspector General report released on Oct. 2 found that sexual harassment cases reported to the department’s Office of Civil Rights had increased by 63 per- cent between 2014 and 2017. Even so, the OIG reports, “sexual harassment is likely underreported” at State. The reasons cited in the report include “a lack of confidence in the department’s ability to resolve sexual harassment complaints, fear of retalia- tion, reluctance to discuss the harass- ment, lack of understanding of the reporting process and, in some cases, specific advice not to make reports.” An OIG survey of 2,000 randomly selected State Department direct-hire employees found that 47 percent of employees who said they have experi- enced or observed sexual harassment in the department in the last two years had not reported it. The department has taken some steps to increase awareness of sexual harass- ment, but has not updated guidance for supervisors about reporting sexual harassment and assault, the OIG found. OIG also found that State lacks guid- ance on coordination between OCR, the Office of Special Investigations, the Bureau of Global Talent Management’s Conduct, Suitability and Discipline Divi- sion, and other relevant departments. A State Department spokeswoman responded to the report, saying that the agency takes all allegations of harass- ment and discrimination extremely seriously and has policies prohibiting sexual harassment, The New York Times reported on Oct. 2. In April, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a report “criticizing the State Department for poor sexual Contemporary Quote We are not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation areas. —White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in a CNN interview with Jake Tapper on Oct. 25. harassment reporting procedures, a lack of accountability from senior leaders and insufficient training that allowed ‘repeat offenders to continue to abuse,’” accord- ing to the Times report. Purging the USAGM I n September, we reported that Michael Pack—following his June confirmation as chief executive officer of the Broad- casting Board of Governors, which over- sees the U.S. Agency for Global Media— quickly took action against the agency’s leadership and career staff. Pack fired or pushed out the heads of every constituent network, starting with the Voice of America; froze all spend- ing; ousted the organizations’ bipartisan governing boards, replacing them with Trump loyalists; and rejected calls to sign off on J-1 visa extensions for foreign nationals working for VOA in Wash- ington, which will not only end their employment but force them to leave the United States. In October, Pack took aim at VOA’s White House bureau chief, Steve Herman (who is also the USAGM representa- tive on the 2019-2021 AFSA Governing Board). NPR reported on Oct. 3 that two of Pack’s senior aides, Frank Wuco and Samuel Dewey, had “investigated” the veteran journalist’s social media postings and found posts and tweets unflatter- ing to President Donald Trump. The duo recommended that Elez Biberaj, VOA’s acting director, remove Herman from his position for “conflicts of interest.” Two days later, Biberaj declared that he would reject any outside or political pressure on his newsroom’s coverage. To date, he has taken no action on the recommendation. Observers noted that the internal investigation itself appears to violate statutory protections for VOA’s newsroom from political interference, a so-called legal “firewall.” The investigation was first reported by NPR. The Government Accountability Project, a public interest group, filed a whistleblower complaint with the State Department inspector general on behalf of Herman. The Committee to Protect Journalists said it was “deeply con- cerned.” On Oct. 6, Representative Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, renewed his call for Pack’s resignation, pointing to a new policy on conflicts of interest announced by Pack less than an hour after NPR inquired about the investigation of Her- man. The new policy addresses journal- ists’ use of social media. Pack had also ignored a subpoena compelling his appearance at a Sept. 24 bipartisan hearing into allegations of wrongdoing at the agency, citing unsp ec- ified “administrative proceedings.” The committee’s ranking member,