DOJ Whistleblowers Call For Investigation Into Canceled Diversity Programs

A U.S. Department of Justice seal is displayed on a podium during a news conference in 2012.

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Justice Department whistleblowers are calling on federal watchdogs and members of Congress to investigate what they call illegal and abusive government directives that waste money and chill “diversity-related speech across the entire federal workforce.”

NPR has obtained a letter by a lawyer for the whistleblowers, who report that diversity and inclusion programs they had planned for the Justice Department earlier this year were branded “divisive propaganda” and had to be canceled.

One such program was supposed to feature the former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jessie Liu; and the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Regina Lombardo, to discuss the “gender leadership gap” at the Justice Department. Another would have examined the issue of implicit bias in law enforcement.