Their request follows a ProPublica investigation that published earlier this month detailing how prosecutors had uncovered a drugs-for-votes scheme being run by a violent gang in Puerto Rican prisons<\/a> and were deep into looking at whether now-Gov. Jenniffer Gonz\u00e1lez-Col\u00f3n or her campaign were involved. In the days following President Donald Trump\u2019s election in 2024, as prosecutors prepared the indictment, they were told by supervisors in the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of Puerto Rico to exclude the voting-related charges against inmates and prison staff, four sources with knowledge of the investigation told ProPublica. Then, once Trump took office, they were told to abandon the probe into potential political ties entirely, the sources said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In their letter, the members of Congress urged the inspector general to examine the Justice Department\u2019s decision to not pursue charges related to election fraud \u201cdespite reported findings and evidence.\u201d They added that the failure to further investigate contradicts the Trump administration\u2019s \u201crepeated emphasis on prioritizing election integrity and election security as federal enforcement priorities,\u201d in addition to deeming drug traffickers threats to public safety and democratic institutions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Initially, Hern\u00e1ndez Rivera sought<\/a> a House Judiciary Committee investigation into the issue but then decided the inspector general\u2019s office would be a better avenue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis has always been about following the facts and ensuring there is accountability,\u201d he said in an email to ProPublica. \u201cGiven the concerns raised about the DOJ\u2019s handling of the investigation and prosecutorial decisions, we believe an Inspector General review is the appropriate mechanism to independently examine what occurred and whether standards were applied consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The letter was addressed to Don Berthiaume, who had been serving as acting inspector general and has been nominated for the position. While his confirmation is pending, William Blier, the deputy inspector general, is leading the office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector general\u2019s office has jurisdiction over misconduct by Justice Department employees, including the Bureau of Prisons, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration. However, it does not oversee allegations of attorney misconduct, which are handled by the Office of Professional Responsibility, unless the allegations include criminal behavior. The inspector general\u2019s office declined to comment on the letter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gonz\u00e1lez-Col\u00f3n, a longtime Republican and member of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, has declined repeated requests for interviews by ProPublica. In a previous statement, she denied any wrongdoing and said she \u201chas stood firmly against corruption\u201d throughout her career and political campaigns. \u201cI categorically reject any attempt to link me to unlawful conduct,\u201d she said. She also told local news outlets<\/a> she didn\u2019t think any investigation into the matter is warranted. Gonz\u00e1lez-Col\u00f3n has not been charged with any crime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An indictment<\/a> filed in December 2024, while Joe Biden was still president, charged 34 members of a gang, known as Group 31 or Los Tiburones, and associates with crimes including drug distribution resulting in at least four overdose deaths. The indictment also alleged that the gang connected with government officials \u201cfor the purpose of reducing prison sentences\u201d and told inmates \u201cwho to vote for in primary and general elections.\u201d But the indictment included no charges related to the drugs-for-votes scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sources familiar with the investigation said gang leaders forced inmates to vote for Gonz\u00e1lez-Col\u00f3n or face brutal beatings, or be cut off from the drugs they were addicted to. Prosecutors said they had evidence that Gonz\u00e1lez-Col\u00f3n had spoken with one of the prison gang leaders on WhatsApp during the primary campaign and were pursuing other potential ties when they were instructed not to look any further, people with knowledge of the investigation told ProPublica. <\/p>\n\n\n\n W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, said his office does not comment on open cases. While a couple of defendants have made plea agreements, most of the cases are still pending. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A spokesperson for his office, Lymarie Llovet-Ayala, told ProPublica in a previous email that charging corrupt public officials \u201chas always been and remains a top priority\u201d of the office. <\/p>\n The post Lawmakers Ask DOJ Watchdog to Investigate Alleged Drugs-for-Votes Scheme After ProPublica Report<\/a> appeared first on ProPublica<\/a>.<\/p>\r\nRead More<\/h3>\n\n\n
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www.propublica.org Source link <\/a>\r\nPuerto Rico’s congressional representative and four House members have requested an investigation by the Justice Department\u2019s Office of the Inspector General concerning the abandonment of a federal probe into a prison drugs-for-votes scheme after the 2024 elections. The lawmakers, citing credible allegations of election fraud, emphasized the need for transparency to maintain public confidence in democratic processes. This request follows a ProPublica investigation revealing prosecutors had evidence of a gang’s operation involving coercion of inmates to vote for now-Gov. Jenniffer Gonz\u00e1lez-Col\u00f3n, but were instructed to drop voting-related charges post-election. Gonz\u00e1lez-Col\u00f3n denied any wrongdoing, insisting she opposes corruption.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Puerto Rico\u2019s representative in Congress and four other members of the House of Representatives have asked the Department of Justice\u2019s Office of the Inspector General to investigate why a federal probe into a prison drugs-for-votes scheme was abandoned after the 2024 elections. \u201cCredible allegations of election fraud uncovered through federal investigative work warrant serious scrutiny and transparent explanation,\u201d the members…","protected":false},"author":474,"featured_media":2332,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/474"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}