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About that Interior Department IG report, why did the Justice Department decline to prosecute? A Washington lawyer reader writes:
Every article I've read so far about the Interior Department sex-for-oil scandal reports that Gregory W. Smith "had inappropriate sexual relationships with two subordinates" or some such bland description of what actually happened.
This is the OIG report's description of what happened:
We interviewed yet another [Royalty in Kind] RIK employee who stated that in approximately 2005, Smith "insisted" that she ride in his car from one business establishment to another, and she agreed.
This employee stated that Smith "took the long way" between the two businesses, and during the drive, he asked to go to her nearby home, but she refused. "He wanted to have sex; I said no, " she recalled. Smith then asked if she would have oral sex with him, but she told him she did not want to. She said Smith then "basically forced [her] head into his lap," and she performed oral sex on him while he drove the car slowly. She said that she resisted Smith when he pulled her head into his lap, but Smith did not relent and continued to pull her head down. She said Smith was "real persistent" but not violent and she did not feel as though she had been sexually assaulted by Smith. She stated that it was difficult for her to have sex with Smith because he supervised her and RIK, but she "felt like [she] could get fired," so she did what Smith wanted. She said she was "scared" that if she did not do what Smith wanted her to do, it could possibly affect her employment. She said this was the only time she had ever had sex with Smith.
(OIG Report at page 20.)
That is not an "inappropriate sexual relationship" - that is a federal employee sexually assaulting a subordinate while on federal government business and it’s a felony. Whether the victim felt she was sexually assaulted or not is irrelevant. Sexual assault victims frequently make such statements - it’s a defense mechanism to deny what happened to them.
Only Fredo's Justice Department would decline to prosecute such a case.