End the 10 Years of Injustice for Sherry Chen and Account for ITMS
Click image to view letter
On April 6, 2022, APA Justice and the coalition of 1,015 organizational and individual co-signers, sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo calling her to take immediate action to end the ten years of injustice for hydrologist Xiafen “Sherry” Chen and to account for the abuse and misconduct at multiple levels of the Department of Commerce stemming from the rogue Investigations and Threat Management Service (ITMS).
Specifically, we request the Department to:
Sherry Chen’s case stands out as one of the most extreme examples of ITMS’s abuses and their devastating consequences. Senator Roger Wicker’s investigation confirms ITMS’s additional abuses of authority, mismanagement, and reprisal against DOC employees, including “the unchecked race-based targeting disproportionately impacted employees of Chinese ancestry.”
Senator Wicker reaffirmed these findings in the March 2022 APA Justice monthly meeting https://youtu.be/EbJ5g0ss3vA (video 2:53). Two whistleblowers were fired by DOC at the end of January 2022.
Justice for Sherry Chen has already been delayed by DOC for ten years despite the mount of growing irrefutable facts and evidence about the misdeeds and misconduct at DOC, spanning over three administrations. It must end now.
We had hoped and still have hope that since the ordeal of Sherry Chen and rogue operations of ITMS did not happen under Secretary Raimondo's watch and the Biden-Harris administration has issued directives to advance equity, justice, and opportunity for AANHPI, she may make a difference by ending the gross injustice and rebuilding the lost trust and confidence in DOC.
2022/07/01 Department of Commerce: Reply by Deputy Secretary Don Graves to April 6, 2022, Coalition Letter
2022/04/06 APA Justice: Joint Letter with 1,015 Organizational and Individual Co-signers to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo
2022/04/03 北美新视界: UCA呼吁签署公开信声援陈霞芬
2022/03/26 俄州亚太联盟: 请签名要求美国商务部结束对陈霞芬的10年不公正待遇
Specifically, we request the Department to:
- Provide immediate relief to Ms. Chen in the form of an apology, appropriate compensation for the harms Ms. Chen has suffered over the past 10 years, rescinding the decision to remove Ms. Chen, and withdrawing the Department’s appeal of the ruling in Ms. Chen’s favor by the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB).
- Publicly adopt policy changes that will prevent profiling and unjustifiable scrutiny of Asian American employees at the Department going forward, including under the guise of “insider threat” investigations.
- Publish a full accounting of the abuses and misconduct at ITMS and the role of any other components or agencies in enabling or failing to stop that misconduct, including the Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
- Strengthen protections for whistleblowers, reverse any retaliation against those who reported ITMS’s abuses, and publicly commend their courage in coming forward.
Sherry Chen’s case stands out as one of the most extreme examples of ITMS’s abuses and their devastating consequences. Senator Roger Wicker’s investigation confirms ITMS’s additional abuses of authority, mismanagement, and reprisal against DOC employees, including “the unchecked race-based targeting disproportionately impacted employees of Chinese ancestry.”
Senator Wicker reaffirmed these findings in the March 2022 APA Justice monthly meeting https://youtu.be/EbJ5g0ss3vA (video 2:53). Two whistleblowers were fired by DOC at the end of January 2022.
Justice for Sherry Chen has already been delayed by DOC for ten years despite the mount of growing irrefutable facts and evidence about the misdeeds and misconduct at DOC, spanning over three administrations. It must end now.
We had hoped and still have hope that since the ordeal of Sherry Chen and rogue operations of ITMS did not happen under Secretary Raimondo's watch and the Biden-Harris administration has issued directives to advance equity, justice, and opportunity for AANHPI, she may make a difference by ending the gross injustice and rebuilding the lost trust and confidence in DOC.
2022/07/01 Department of Commerce: Reply by Deputy Secretary Don Graves to April 6, 2022, Coalition Letter
2022/04/06 APA Justice: Joint Letter with 1,015 Organizational and Individual Co-signers to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo
2022/04/03 北美新视界: UCA呼吁签署公开信声援陈霞芬
2022/03/26 俄州亚太联盟: 请签名要求美国商务部结束对陈霞芬的10年不公正待遇
Updates on The Investigation of Abuse and Misconduct at DOC
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On March 7, 2022, U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, provided an update on his continuing investigation of abuse and misconduct the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) in the APA Justice monthly meeting.
Among the major points delivered by Senator Wicker are:
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Click image to read press release
On March 7, 2022, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa., ranking member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, sent a letter to United States Marshals Service (USMS) Director Ronald Davis seeking additional information regarding the potentially illicit methods the Investigations and Threat Management Service (ITMS) office took to gain special deputy marshal status. ITMS’s [The Investigations and Threat Management Service's] actions went beyond merely violating the parameters of their special deputation. They routinely engaged in activities that were illegal and violated the constitutional rights of multiple individuals. In one instance, ITMS investigated a Chinese-born scientist employed at the Department on charges of espionage, interrogated her for hours, and drafted a criminal referral to federal prosecutors. Officials ultimately dropped the charges after her arrest because the untrained ITMS investigators failed to provide sufficient evidence of wrongdoing. The waste of millions of taxpayer dollars by ITMS’s unauthorized criminal investigations into Department employees, foreign nationals, and U.S. citizens requires additional congressional oversight of the Special Deputation program administered by USMS. Director Davis was asked to respond to the questions posed by the senators no later than March 21, 2022. |
Click image to view Sherry Chen's 10-year ordeal
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Click image to read transcript of Senator Wicker's talk
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Click image to read the Senate Committee Investigative Report
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Links and References
Sherry Chen Legal Defense Fund: Website
APA Justice: Sherry Chen
2022/03/07 APA Justice: Senator Roger Wicker Update in March 2022 Monthly Meeting (video 2:53)
APA Justice: Transcript of Senator Roger Wicker's Update Talk
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee: Press Release - Wicker, Grassley Seek Information Regarding Potentially Illicit Methods ITMS Used to Gain Special Deputy Marshal Authority
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee: Joint Letter by Senators Wicker, Grassley to US Marshall Service Director
2021/12/31 APA Justice: Chronological Events for Sherry Chen
2021/07/13 Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee: Abuse and Misconduct at the Commerce Department
Sherry Chen Legal Defense Fund: Website
APA Justice: Sherry Chen
2022/03/07 APA Justice: Senator Roger Wicker Update in March 2022 Monthly Meeting (video 2:53)
APA Justice: Transcript of Senator Roger Wicker's Update Talk
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee: Press Release - Wicker, Grassley Seek Information Regarding Potentially Illicit Methods ITMS Used to Gain Special Deputy Marshal Authority
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee: Joint Letter by Senators Wicker, Grassley to US Marshall Service Director
2021/12/31 APA Justice: Chronological Events for Sherry Chen
2021/07/13 Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee: Abuse and Misconduct at the Commerce Department
Department of Commerce Released Internal Review Report
On September 3, 2021, a Friday before the Labor Day holiday weekend, the Department of Commerce (DOC) announced that it had accepted the findings and recommendations from an internal review on the Investigations and Threat Management Service (ITMS). The internal review was conducted by the DOC Office of General Counsel (DOC/OGC), which produced a 26-page report.
On the same day, Senator Roger Wicker, Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, released a statement, quoting the senator, “I am encouraged by the actions taken by Secretary Raimondo to correct the egregious misconduct within the Commerce Department. I will complete a thorough review of the Secretary’s report and consider additional oversight to ensure compliance with these corrective actions. We will continue to investigate why the Department’s Inspector General previously failed to address the allegations of abuse of power, ethnic targeting, and reprisal by ITMS staff.”
According to DOC, ITMS will be eliminated within 90 days and the additional recommendations will be implemented within 180 days. While we are encouraged that DOC has finally taken action on a unit that has gone rogue and unaccountable for 15 years, we are also alarmed that:
APA Justice will continue to review the DOC internal review report and related materials.
Links and References
2021/09/08 ClearanceJobs: U.S. Department of Commerce Responds to Allegations Against Their Investigations and Threat Management Unit
2021/09/03 Department of Commerce: U.S. Department of Commerce Accepts Findings and Recommendations from Investigations and Threat Management Service Review
Department of Commerce: Office of General Counsel Report of the Programmatic Review of the Investigations and Threat Management Service
Department of Commerce: Office of Inspector General Report of Investigation 19-0714
Senator Roger Wicker: Wicker Statement on Commerce Department’s Report Confirming Misconduct at ITMS
Washington Post: Commerce Dept. security unit to be shut down after overstepping legal limits in launching probes, officials say
New York Times: Commerce Dept. Will Shutter Unit That Conducted Rogue Investigations
Reuters: U.S. Commerce Dept will scrap security unit
The Verge: Feds to close unit that monitored Americans’ social media for Census disinformation
Hill Reporter: Biden Administration Shuts Down Rogue Commerce Department Investigative Unit
SC Media: Commerce deep sixes investigative unit
2021/07/16 New York Times: ‘Rogue’ U.S. Agency Used Racial Profiling to Investigate Commerce Dept. Employees, Report Says
2021/07/13 Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Investigative Report: Abuse and Misconduct at The Commerce Department
2021/05/24 Sen. Roger Wicker Press Release: Wicker Releases Fact Sheet Revealing Misconduct at the Commerce Department
Sen. Roger Wicker Fact Sheet: Misconduct at the Commerce Department’s Investigations and Threat Management Service
Washington Post: Commerce Department security unit evolved into counterintelligence-like operation, Washington Post examination found
2016 Department of Commerce: Sixty-Eighth Honor Awards Program Book
On the same day, Senator Roger Wicker, Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, released a statement, quoting the senator, “I am encouraged by the actions taken by Secretary Raimondo to correct the egregious misconduct within the Commerce Department. I will complete a thorough review of the Secretary’s report and consider additional oversight to ensure compliance with these corrective actions. We will continue to investigate why the Department’s Inspector General previously failed to address the allegations of abuse of power, ethnic targeting, and reprisal by ITMS staff.”
According to DOC, ITMS will be eliminated within 90 days and the additional recommendations will be implemented within 180 days. While we are encouraged that DOC has finally taken action on a unit that has gone rogue and unaccountable for 15 years, we are also alarmed that:
- The internal review was purportedly started by a two-year old Report of Investigation No. 19-0714 conducted by DOC’s Office of Inspector General (DOC/OIG). A redacted version of this 2019 report was posted publicly on September 3, 2021. It refers to one complaint filed in July 2019 for "targeting ITMS employees and conducting inappropriate searches of Department employees." Although "investigative steps led to additional allegations," it did not mention targeting of Asian American employees. The Sherry Chen Legal Defense Fund filed a complaint with a whistleblowert letter in August 2018. There is no clear indication whether DOC/OIG conduct an investigation of this complaints or other complaints involving Asian American employees? If so, it is unclear whether DOC/OGC covered them in the internal review.
- It is unclear about the diversity of the DOC/OGC review teamm or whether there was any Asian American member on the review team or not. There are about 5,800 current Asian American employees in DOC and an unknown number of former employees between 2006 to 2021. It is important to preserve information and evidence for review and oversight by Congress, impacted persons, and the public.
- It is difficult for us to conceive that a unit with an average staff of 12 employees could have gone rogue for as many as 15 years by itself without complicit roles of some units and officials in DOC. For example, according to the DOC Sixty-Eighth Honor Awards Program Book in 2016, a unit identified as “Investigations and Threat Management Division” (ITMD) received a Gold Medal Award for Personal and Professional Excellence in 2016. The Gold Medal is “the highest honorary award given by the Department, is granted by the Secretary for distinguished performance characterized by extraordinary, notable, or prestigious contributions that impact the mission of the Department and/or one operating unit and that reflect favorably on the Department.”
The citation for ITMD reads: “The organization is honored for identifying an unrecognized strategic threat to national security, and then leading a U.S. Government effort to address the major paradigm change created by this threat utilizing mitigating efforts directly impacting both current and future U.S. national strategy at the highest level. Their investigation developed unprecedented evidence that revealed an adversary’s innovative means of circumventing existing protective, investigative, and enforcement methods.” Not only was there no oversight and accountability for the rogue operation, there was top level departmental support and recognition.
APA Justice will continue to review the DOC internal review report and related materials.
Links and References
2021/09/08 ClearanceJobs: U.S. Department of Commerce Responds to Allegations Against Their Investigations and Threat Management Unit
2021/09/03 Department of Commerce: U.S. Department of Commerce Accepts Findings and Recommendations from Investigations and Threat Management Service Review
Department of Commerce: Office of General Counsel Report of the Programmatic Review of the Investigations and Threat Management Service
Department of Commerce: Office of Inspector General Report of Investigation 19-0714
Senator Roger Wicker: Wicker Statement on Commerce Department’s Report Confirming Misconduct at ITMS
Washington Post: Commerce Dept. security unit to be shut down after overstepping legal limits in launching probes, officials say
New York Times: Commerce Dept. Will Shutter Unit That Conducted Rogue Investigations
Reuters: U.S. Commerce Dept will scrap security unit
The Verge: Feds to close unit that monitored Americans’ social media for Census disinformation
Hill Reporter: Biden Administration Shuts Down Rogue Commerce Department Investigative Unit
SC Media: Commerce deep sixes investigative unit
2021/07/16 New York Times: ‘Rogue’ U.S. Agency Used Racial Profiling to Investigate Commerce Dept. Employees, Report Says
2021/07/13 Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Investigative Report: Abuse and Misconduct at The Commerce Department
2021/05/24 Sen. Roger Wicker Press Release: Wicker Releases Fact Sheet Revealing Misconduct at the Commerce Department
Sen. Roger Wicker Fact Sheet: Misconduct at the Commerce Department’s Investigations and Threat Management Service
Washington Post: Commerce Department security unit evolved into counterintelligence-like operation, Washington Post examination found
2016 Department of Commerce: Sixty-Eighth Honor Awards Program Book
Senate Committee Investigative Report on Abuse and Misconduct at DOC
Committee Investigation Report: Abuse and Misconduct at The Commerce Department
Click the image to read the report
On July 13, 2021, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Senate Committee) released a 37-page investigative report, "Abuse and Misconduct at the Commerce Department."
The investigation began after whistleblowers reported a variety of improper activities dating back to the mid-2000s involving abuses of authority, mismanagement, and reprisal against Department employees. Minority Staff conducted over 100 interviews and reviewed thousands of documents supporting allegations from over two dozen whistleblowers.
The investigative report followed a statement and fact sheet issued by Senate Committee Ranking Member Senator Roger Wicker and a report by the Washington Post on May 24, 2021. The abuse of authority includes targeting and investigation of individuals of Asian descent. https://bit.ly/3B1R0kA.
Findings of the report include:
"This unchecked race-based targeting disproportionately impacted employees of Chinese ancestry." (page 7)
On pages 12-13, the report identifies two specific Chinese American scientists subjected to ITMS criminal investigations and subsequent prosecutions by the Department of Justice:
According to the report (page 20), for more than a decade, the ITMS directed agents to engage in law enforcement activities with knowledge that no legal basis existed to support them. In a memo from 2005, George Lee, director of ITMS, acknowledged that the ITMS “may lack legal authority to conduct an appreciable portion of its investigative efforts, particularly criminal investigations.” He even predicted that agents could face “serious criminal and
civil liability,” including charges of “impersonation, theft, assault, and false imprisonment as well as “vulnerability to a Bivens action.” Nonetheless, Commerce Department officials allowed Lee and the ITMS to continue operating without proper authority.
On August 15, 2018, The Sherry Chen Legal Defense Fund submitted a whistleblower letter to the Inspector General Office to initiate an investigation. The cover letter explains the need to protect the whistleblower, ensure integrity of the process, and preserve evidence. No response has been received after more than 1,060 days. The whistleblower letter was turned over to the Senate Committee as part of the investigation.
Among the recommendations in the report are:
We thank Senator Roger Wicker and the Minority Staff for their leadership and due diligence in conducting this thorough investigation. The fact-based report is comprehensive and powerful in uncovering the abuse and misconduct at multiple levels at the Department of Commerce. Both Congress and the Biden-Harris Administration now have the responsibility to correct the wrongs in the Commerce Department immediately, as well as making necessary reforms and changes to improve transparency, oversight, and accountability and eliminate racial profiling and anti-Asian discrimination in federal departments and agencies.
Links and References
2021/08/04 GovExec: Senator Seeks Information on ‘Rogue’ Commerce Department Unit
2021/08/03 Senate Judiciary Committee: Grassley Probes ‘Rogue’ Law Enforcement and Intelligence Activity at Commerce Dept. after Damning Senate Report
2021/08/02 Senator Chuck Grassley: Letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo
2021/07/29 TechDirt: Oversight Report Says Commerce Dept. Investigative Unit Went Rogue, Engaged In Biased, Retaliatory Investigations
2021/07/22 CAPAC: CAPAC Chair Calls to Disband Rogue Investigative Unit at Commerce Department
2021/07/17 CNN: Report finds little-known security unit in Commerce abused power and investigated employees of Chinese or Southeast Asian ancestry for years
2021/07/16 New York Times: ‘Rogue’ U.S. Agency Used Racial Profiling to Investigate Commerce Dept. Employees, Report Says
The Hill: Commerce office used racial profiling operating as 'rogue' police force: Senate report
Axios: Commerce unit went "rogue" with race-based investigations, Senate report says
USA Today: Senate report: 'Rogue' Commerce security unit targeted Asian-American employees
2021/07/15 Federalist: Oversight Report: Department Of Commerce Unit Illegally Spied On Americans
2021/07/14 TPM: New Minority Committee Report Details Rogue Police Force Investigating A Child, Costing Millions As Employees Watched Netflix
2021/07/13 Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Press Release: Wicker Releases Committee Report Revealing Abuse at the Commerce Department
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee Investigative Report: Abuse and Misconduct at The Commerce Department
The investigation began after whistleblowers reported a variety of improper activities dating back to the mid-2000s involving abuses of authority, mismanagement, and reprisal against Department employees. Minority Staff conducted over 100 interviews and reviewed thousands of documents supporting allegations from over two dozen whistleblowers.
The investigative report followed a statement and fact sheet issued by Senate Committee Ranking Member Senator Roger Wicker and a report by the Washington Post on May 24, 2021. The abuse of authority includes targeting and investigation of individuals of Asian descent. https://bit.ly/3B1R0kA.
Findings of the report include:
- The Investigations and Threat Management Service (ITMS) searched Department servers and monitored employee email accounts to scan for evidence of foreign influence as early as 2014. These searches began focusing on an operation to uncover connections between Department employees and actors within the Chinese government. To achieve this end, the ITMS targeted departmental divisions with comparably high proportions of Asian-American employees.
- Overclassification allowed ITMS to block the release of investigative files for criminal targets whose cases proceeded through the judicial system and to members of the public requesting documents through the Freedom of Information Act.
- Across the Department of Commerce, the ITMS opened frivolous investigations on a variety of employees without probable cause for the purpose of exaggerating the unit’s ability to uncover security threats within the civil service.
- Because of inadequate oversight by the Inspector General’s office, the unit’s improper exercises of law enforcement powers likely resulted in preventable violations of civil liberties and other constitutional rights, as well as a gross abuse of taxpayer funds.
"This unchecked race-based targeting disproportionately impacted employees of Chinese ancestry." (page 7)
On pages 12-13, the report identifies two specific Chinese American scientists subjected to ITMS criminal investigations and subsequent prosecutions by the Department of Justice:
- Sherry Chen, an award-winning hydrologist whose ordeal at the Department of Commerce started 10 years ago. She courageously testified in the June 30, 2021 Congressional Roundtable on “Researching while Chinese American: Ethnic Profiling, Chinese American Scientists and a New American Brain Drain” (video 1:42:15) led by Rep. Jamie Raskin, Chair, House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and Rep. Judy Chu, Chair, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Read more about Sherry's story at Sherry Chen and Sherry Chen Legal Defense Fund
- Dr. Chunzai Wang, one of the world’s foremost experts on oceanic climate change. Read his story at Chunzai Wang
According to the report (page 20), for more than a decade, the ITMS directed agents to engage in law enforcement activities with knowledge that no legal basis existed to support them. In a memo from 2005, George Lee, director of ITMS, acknowledged that the ITMS “may lack legal authority to conduct an appreciable portion of its investigative efforts, particularly criminal investigations.” He even predicted that agents could face “serious criminal and
civil liability,” including charges of “impersonation, theft, assault, and false imprisonment as well as “vulnerability to a Bivens action.” Nonetheless, Commerce Department officials allowed Lee and the ITMS to continue operating without proper authority.
On August 15, 2018, The Sherry Chen Legal Defense Fund submitted a whistleblower letter to the Inspector General Office to initiate an investigation. The cover letter explains the need to protect the whistleblower, ensure integrity of the process, and preserve evidence. No response has been received after more than 1,060 days. The whistleblower letter was turned over to the Senate Committee as part of the investigation.
Among the recommendations in the report are:
- The Department of Commerce should conduct a review of all adverse employment actions directed or informed by the work of ITMS and former iterations of the office. The review should include, but not be limited to, disciplinary matters; suspension or revocation of security clearances; and retirements, resignations, and terminations. Significant scrutiny should be placed on related Non-Disclosure, Resolution, Settlement, and other agreements negotiated by ITMS officials, including George Lee.
- The administration should conduct an administrative and legal review of closed ITMS cases, including potential referral of criminal misconduct to the appropriate prosecutorial authorities.
We thank Senator Roger Wicker and the Minority Staff for their leadership and due diligence in conducting this thorough investigation. The fact-based report is comprehensive and powerful in uncovering the abuse and misconduct at multiple levels at the Department of Commerce. Both Congress and the Biden-Harris Administration now have the responsibility to correct the wrongs in the Commerce Department immediately, as well as making necessary reforms and changes to improve transparency, oversight, and accountability and eliminate racial profiling and anti-Asian discrimination in federal departments and agencies.
Links and References
2021/08/04 GovExec: Senator Seeks Information on ‘Rogue’ Commerce Department Unit
2021/08/03 Senate Judiciary Committee: Grassley Probes ‘Rogue’ Law Enforcement and Intelligence Activity at Commerce Dept. after Damning Senate Report
2021/08/02 Senator Chuck Grassley: Letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo
2021/07/29 TechDirt: Oversight Report Says Commerce Dept. Investigative Unit Went Rogue, Engaged In Biased, Retaliatory Investigations
2021/07/22 CAPAC: CAPAC Chair Calls to Disband Rogue Investigative Unit at Commerce Department
2021/07/17 CNN: Report finds little-known security unit in Commerce abused power and investigated employees of Chinese or Southeast Asian ancestry for years
2021/07/16 New York Times: ‘Rogue’ U.S. Agency Used Racial Profiling to Investigate Commerce Dept. Employees, Report Says
The Hill: Commerce office used racial profiling operating as 'rogue' police force: Senate report
Axios: Commerce unit went "rogue" with race-based investigations, Senate report says
USA Today: Senate report: 'Rogue' Commerce security unit targeted Asian-American employees
2021/07/15 Federalist: Oversight Report: Department Of Commerce Unit Illegally Spied On Americans
2021/07/14 TPM: New Minority Committee Report Details Rogue Police Force Investigating A Child, Costing Millions As Employees Watched Netflix
2021/07/13 Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Press Release: Wicker Releases Committee Report Revealing Abuse at the Commerce Department
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee Investigative Report: Abuse and Misconduct at The Commerce Department
APA Justice Letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo
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On June 1, 2021, the APA Justice Task Force sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to express our deep concerns and offer our perspective and assistance to her office regarding the recent Washington Post report detailing misconduct by the Investigations and Threat Management Service (ITMS) at the Department of Commerce (DOC), which was later confirmed by a statement issued by Senator Roger Wicker, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
A whistleblower letter submitted to the Office of Inspector General at DOC in August 2018 was included in the letter to Secretary Raimondo. We provided facts and evidence that Sherry Chen and Dr. Chunzai Wang are believed to be among those impacted by the reported abuse of non-existent authority and targeting of DOC Asian American employees. The alleged misconduct extends beyond ITMS. We respectfully request Secretary Raimondo to expand the scope of her ongoing review and commit to a comprehensive solution. APA Justice stands ready to provide additional information and assistance as she deems appropriate. Copies of the letter were sent to Senators Maria Cantwell and Roger Wicker, Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee respectively; Senator Tammy Duckworth, member of the same committee; Rep. Judy Chu, Chair, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus; Rep. Jamie Raskin, Chair, House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties; Erika Moritsugu, Deputy Assistant to the President and AAPI Senior Liaison, White House; and Jeremy Licht, Deputy General Counsel for Strategic Initiatives at DOC. | ||
2021/07/19 APA Justice: Follow-up Letter to Jeremy Licht
2021/07/14 Department of Commerce: Response Letter from Jeremy Licht to APA Justice
2021/07/14 Department of Commerce: Response Letter from Jeremy Licht to APA Justice
DOC Abuses Non-Existent Authority and Targets Asian American Employees
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On May 24, 2021, U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Committee), released a press statement and a fact sheet as a precursor to a Committee report detailing misconduct in the Investigations and Threat Management Service (ITMS) at the Department of Commerce (DOC). They were released shortly after the Washington Post (WP) published a blockbuster article about a whole range of misconduct by ITMS, which included the targeting of Asian Americans.
According to the Committee, “the ITMS has mutated into a rogue, unaccountable police force without a clear mission.” In a separate letter last month to the new Commerce Secretary, Senator Wicker wrote that the ITMS unit may have “disproportionately targeted and investigated . . . individuals of Asian descent.” The Committee's investigation into alleged misconduct at DOC was started in early February 2021 after whistleblowers reported a variety of improper activities dating back to the mid-2000s involving abuse of authority, mismanagement, and reprisal against DOC employees. The preliminary findings show that the ITMS has engaged in a troubling variety of investigative activities without proper authorization.
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Sherry Chen - "Victim of A Gross Injustice"
Born in China and a naturalized U.S. citizen since 1997, Xiafen "Sherry" Chen was employed at the National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio as a hydrologist. The National Weather Service is part of the Department of Commerce (DOC). During her 7- year tenure with the agency, Sherry developed a river flood forecast model that literally saved lives, including during the historic Mississippi River flood in 2011 for which she received a national award. On October 20, 2014, Sherry's life and career were turned upside down when six FBI agents arrested her dramatically at work. Unbeknownst to her, a colleague outrageously had reported Sherry as a potential security risk, describing her as a "U.S. citizen, but a Chinese national." She was interrogated for seven hours by ITMS in 2013 without knowledge that she was a target of investigation. With her arrest she faced criminal charges that carried a potential penalty of 25 years in prison and $1 million in fines. Underlying the baseless charges against Sherry was the implicit allegation that she had acted as a spy for the Chinese government, which was utterly false. In March 2015, a week before the criminal trial was scheduled to begin, the government announced it was dismissing all the charges. Yet DOC refused to allow her to return to work. In March 2016, DOC terminated her employment, based principally on the same spurious allegations leading to her wrongful arrest and prosecution. As a federal employee, Sherry challenged the termination by filing an appeal with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and in March 2017 her case was heard before Administrative Judge Michele Szary Schroeder. More than a year later, in April 2018, Judge Schroeder issued a ruling in Sherry's favor, ordering her immediate reinstatement. In her blistering, 130-page decision, the judge excoriated DOC for the deeply flawed investigations preceding both Sherry's arrest and her termination, including the fact that the agency buried exculpatory evidence. She further blasted the DOC decision-makers who "seemed more concerned about being right than doing the right thing" and who gave such illogical testimony that the judge "would not have been surprised if they rejected that 2 + 2 = 4." Ultimately, the judge agreed that, due to the failures of officials at multiple levels of the agency, Sherry was a "victim of a gross injustice." On January 18, 2019, Sherry Chen and her attorneys Michele Young and Peter Toren filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. government under the Federal Tort Claims Act for the malicious prosecution and false arrest of Sherry Chen in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. On September 23, 2019, Sherry Chen and her legal team amended the complaint to include violations of constitutional rights. Since Sherry's arrest and termination, members of Congress have called attention to her case, including this letter by the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus to the DOC Inspector General on May 23, 2018 which tragically is but one example of the federal government's pattern of ethnic profiling against Chinese American scientists. DOC ignored these concerns and, instead of complying with Judge Schroeder's decision, filed an appeal, which - due to backlog of thousands of cases - is now languishing before the MSPB in Washington. Sherry has suffered tremendously for more than six years. The injustice she faced started nine years ago. Her long nightmare must come to an end. More about the Sherry Chen story are available here and at the Sherry Chen Legal Defense Fund.  Dr. Chunzai Wang 王春在
Dr. Chunzai Wang is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China and a former research oceanographer in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He received the NOAA Research Scientist of the Year award in 2012 and 2013.
After interrogations by ITMS, Dr. Wang was indicted and accused of fraudulent claims and illegal supplement of his federal salary on June 29, 2017. The total amount was about $2,000 over a three-year period to help students there on research involving climate change. The presiding judge criticized the government for its overreach in prosecuting Dr. Wang, but he was forced to leave federal employment. Read more about the Chunzai Wang story: https://bit.ly/3ukWfHF |
