Education Secretary Betsy DeVos sought advice on whether departmental employees could be prosecuted for leaking budget data and other unclassified material to the media, according to an internal report compiled by the department’s Office of Inspector General.
“While evaluating the … incidents of alleged unauthorized releases of non-public information, we identified challenges to criminal prosecution or taking significant administrative actions against individuals responsible for the release of this type of information,” the memo states, according to the Washington Post.
Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Aaron R. Jordan, who drafted the report, recommended the Education Department introduce policies addressing such disclosures and train bureaucrats to better organize and safeguard the department’s secrets.
But Jordan added in a footnote that such policies should be balanced with “whistleblower rights and protections.”
Guidance was sought after the Washington Post published articles on May 17 and 18 detailing information included in President Trump’s 2018 budget request regarding the Education Department before it was scheduled to be made public.
Politico also printed in June excerpts from internal documents that revealed the Trump administration “wrestled with the precise rationale” for delaying the effective date of its borrower defense regulations.
In addition, a report titled “Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities: Preschool Grants for Children (NPRM)” was leaked to the press in October while still in the clearance process.
A spokesperson for the Education Department did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment.
