A new inspector general report detailed “disrespectful and hostile” treatment of career staffers in the State Department bureau of International Organization Affairs. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images foreign policy Top State Department aide stays on despite 'hostile' behavior reports Kevin Moley, an assistant secretary of State, was one of two officials taken to task in a new inspector general report that detailed 'disrespectful and hostile' behavior.

State Department employees are angry that a Trump administration political appointee appears set to keep his job after an investigation found evidence he’d acted abusively and ignored repeated warnings to shift his behavior.

Kevin Moley, an assistant secretary of State, was one of two officials taken to task in a new inspector general report that detailed “disrespectful and hostile” treatment of career staffers in the bureau of International Organization Affairs.


Yet there’s no sign that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to oust him or that Moley will quit. The most the department’s top leadership has said so far is that it will “consider additional discipline” for Moley. High-level State officials also told the inspector general that Moley “has already been counseled regarding his leadership,” and that the department is preparing “a corrective action plan” for the bureau.

Moley’s continued presence could dampen already low morale within the bureau and raise questions about Pompeo’s commitment to accountability, current and former staffers said.

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Some top Democrats in Congress agree.

“Mr. Moley should resign or be fired,” said Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He added: “Ultimately, of course, the buck stops with Secretary Pompeo, who continues to employ Mr. Moley as part of his senior leadership team.”

New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also believes Moley needs to go, an aide said.

Deputies to Pompeo did not respond directly to a request for comment on whether the chief diplomat would fire Moley. The other official criticized in the report, Mari Stull, was a top adviser to Moley and has already left the State Department.

Moley did not reply to a request for comment for this report. But he sent the inspector general a lengthy response to the allegations in the report. He insisted for the most part that each situation was mischaracterized, or that he interpreted them in a different way. For others, he argued that he was not involved in or did not recall the incidents.

“The behavior attributed to me regarding raising my voice, berating employees and contributing to a hostile work environment does not represent the person I am or have ever been,” he wrote. Looking ahead, he insisted that he remains “committed to promoting a positive work environment.”

The current undersecretary of State for political affairs, David Hale, emailed the staff of the international organization affairs bureau on Thursday in light of the inspector general report's release. In the email, obtained by POLITICO, Hale assures staffers that the matter has his "full attention" and promises to hold a meeting with the bureau the last week of August.

The inspector general’s investigation into the bureau, which deals with institutions such as the United Nations, was based on more than 40 interviews and a review of thousands of emails.

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It not only found a pattern of misbehavior, it also noted that Moley was repeatedly told to fix the problems, including by reining in Stull, the focus of a huge number of complaints.

Then-Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon, then-Acting Undersecretary Stephen Mull and Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan all raised concerns with Moley. But according to the inspector general, Moley “did not take significant action to respond to such concerns.”

Moley and Stull are accused of targeting career government staffers because they suspected those staffers were disloyal to President Donald Trump. At least one staffer was unfairly stripped of duties and quit the department, the report says.

Career government staffers are expected to carry out the priorities of whoever is in charge of the White House, regardless of political party. Their existence allows for an accumulation of expertise in the government and assures some continuity between administrations.

But many Trump appointees came into office believing that a “deep state” exists within the government bureaucracy and that it is determined to undermine the new president.

Moley’s online bio lists him as having held several government positions in the past, including at the Department of Health and Human Services. He has a military background and also has engaged in humanitarian work. A former senior State Department official said Moley often presented himself as a “Bush Republican” not a “Trumpian.”

The inspector general’s report has sparked many conversations at Foggy Bottom, current and former State staffers said.

Several expressed frustration to POLITICO about Moley’s continued role. Some were confused because Pompeo recently fired another political appointee, Kiron Skinner, who ran State’s Policy Planning division, over claims of abusive behavior.

Others pointed out that the inspector general is still working on another investigation into political retaliation against career staffers. That probe includes an examination of claims against people who have held or still hold positions that report directly to the secretary — either Pompeo or his predecessor, Rex Tillerson.

If Moley isn’t fired, it sets a bad precedent for holding anyone else accountable, current and former staffers argued.

“It’s offensive that [Moley] is collecting a taxpayer-funded paycheck today,” one staffer said.