Whistleblower Alleges Retaliation Against CBP Witness Within Hours of Oversight/Homeland Security Interview

Susie Moore reporting for RedState 

The House Oversight Committee has had a busy July, between hosting hearings on the IRS whistleblowers and investigating the coverup regarding the origin of COVID-19. But those aren’t the committee’s only activities of late. On Friday, the committee, jointly with the Committee on Homeland Security, issued a press release detailing allegations of retaliation taken by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) against Chief Patrol Agent of the El Centro Border Patrol Sector, Gregory K. Bovino, within hours of his providing a voluntary interview to the committee on July 12, 2023.

The El Centro Border Patrol Sector sits within Southern California’s Imperial Valley. According to his LinkedIn profile, Bovino has been with CBP for over 27 years. He has served as the Chief Patrol Agent for the El Centro sector since 2020.

The press release, set forth below, spells out the concerns of Oversight Chairman Jim Comer (R-KY) and Homeland Security Chair Mark Green (R-TN) after a “credible whistleblower” alleged that CBP officials took retaliatory action against Bovino just hours after he sat for a voluntary, transcribed interview with the committees in mid-July. Per the release, Bovino was swiftly relieved of his command “and reassigned to a vague, indefinite, and temporary headquarters assignment.” This practice is alleged by the whistleblower to be “consistent with the way in which CBP officials have dealt with employees who they wish to leave the agency, by placing maximum pressure on them to relocate, retire, or resign.”

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) are probing allegations made by a credible whistleblower that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have retaliated against a witness in the committees’ investigation of President Biden’s border crisis. In a letter to the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner Troy A. Miller, Chairmen Comer and Green demand a briefing and all documents and communications relevant to any reassignment and the reasons for any related employment action regarding Gregory K. Bovino, Chief Patrol Agent of the El Centro Border Patrol Sector.

“We write with deep concern that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials may have retaliated against a witness in a Congressional investigation,” wrote the Chairmen. “The Committees have received an allegation from a credible whistleblower with extensive experience in and knowledge of CBP personnel practices that—within hours of concluding a voluntary transcribed interview with the Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on Homeland Security on July 12, 2023, Gregory K. Bovino, Chief Patrol Agent of the El Centro Border Patrol Sector, was relieved of his command over the El Centro Sector and reassigned to a vague, indefinite, and temporary headquarters assignment. Given the suspicious timing of the reassignment coinciding with Chief Bovino’s cooperation with a Congressional inquiry, we demand CBP account for the current status of Chief Bovino’s employment and assignment within the U.S. Border Patrol, provide documents and communications relevant to any reassignment and the reasons for any related employment action, and brief the Committee on this matter.”

According to a whistleblower familiar with CBP law enforcement and personnel practices, within hours of that transcribed interview having concluded, a senior U.S. Border Patrol official informed Chief Bovino that he was relieved of command of the El Centro Sector effective immediately and would thereafter report to CBP headquarters in Washington, D.C. for a temporary duty assignment of indefinite nature and time. The whistleblower describes that temporary assignment as one of no certain mission, no articulable purpose, and without any timeline of completion. The whistleblower further alleges that this practice is consistent with the way in which CBP officials have dealt with employees who they wish to leave the agency, by placing maximum pressure on them to relocate, retire, or resign.

“The ability of Congress to receive truthful testimony about the activities of the Executive Branch is paramount to performing essential oversight functions necessary to inform the legislative process,” continued the Chairmen. “Any retaliation against witnesses who cooperate with Congressional inquiries will not be tolerated, especially when that retaliation may have been committed by government officials.”

The release also links to a copy of a July 21 letter co-authored by Comer and Green and directed to Troy Miller, the “Senior Official Performing the Duties of Commissioner” at the CBP. The letter provides additional details regarding the retaliation concerns raised by the chairmen, including the fact that Bovino originally was invited to testify before the full House Oversight Committee in January and was scheduled to testify on February 6, 2023, but ultimately was not permitted to do so.

The Committees have now received allegations from a whistleblower familiar with this series of events that Chief Bovino may have produced written testimony in preparation for this hearing that was dissatisfactory to CBP officials: so much so that he was verbally reprimanded by headquarters officials.

The letter requests the production of documents and communications pertinent to Bovino’s reassignment, his scheduled (and aborted) appearance, including any prepared opening statement or testimony, and between CBP and the White House or the Department of Homeland Security regarding Bovino’s appearance for the interview. The deadline for the document production set by the letter is August 4th.