Top DHS official quit after investigation into expenses of 'thousands of dollars' on personal meals

[mystery-ak]

Top DHS official quit after investigation into expenses of 'thousands of dollars' on personal meals
by Anna Giaritelli
 | September 19, 2019 04:38 PM



Federal investigators last month recommended that the Department of Homeland Security's top spokesman be fired immediately for charging large sums of personal dining expenses to the government, three officials have told the Washington Examiner.

But Homeland Security acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Andrew Meehan, who resigned amid the investigation, is not due to leave his post until Friday, more than four weeks after his resignation was first reported Aug. 22.

At the time, some senior administration officials claimed the right-hand man to acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan was departing because of friction between the White House and DHS leadership. But several sources said he abruptly resigned in August for a different reason, and the agency's leaders, including McAleenan, were aware of the investigation and its findings but have not forced him out in the month since then.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, where Meehan worked as assistant commissioner of public affairs from May 2018 through April 2019, concluded an internal affairs investigation this summer. Senior agency officials recommended Meehan, who is technically still a Customs and Border Protection employee serving in an acting position as a senior Homeland Security official, be fired immediately for improper use of his government credit card. Customs and Border Protection is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

One official said Meehan, who is 38 and at last count is making an annual salary of $168,000, was expensing "thousands of dollars" of meal costs to the government to the extent the agency had decided in senior-level talks that he needed to be removed. The investigation was kept quiet, and only those at the top of Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security were aware of the investigation’s details and its findings.

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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/top-dhs-official-quit-after-investigation-into-expenses-of-thousands-of-dollars-on-personal-meals

[Night Hides Not]

Allow me to contrast this with how the FDIC dealt with misuse of credit cards.

There was a GS-14 working on the same floor as me, and his wife "took care of the finances." Unfortunately, she didn't pay off the credit card on the due date. That in itself was stupid, because we were reimbursed for travel expenses 3 days after filing the expense report.

He was fired. Seems harsh, but the FDIC doesn't mess around. One of the best places I ever worked.