FBI assistant director faulted for misconduct around romantic relationship
Devlin Barrett 16 hrs ago
A senior FBI official violated agency policies in her handling of a romantic relationship with a subordinate, according to findings of the Justice Department’s inspector general, and the bureau’s disciplinary office is now weighing what, if anything, to do about the findings, according to current and former law enforcement officials familiar with the matter.
Jill C. Tyson, who has a close working relationship with FBI Director Christopher A. Wray in her role as assistant director for congressional affairs, was criticized in a report issued Thursday by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
The inspector general did not name Tyson, but concluded that “the Assistant Director was engaged in a romantic relationship with a subordinate and failed to timely report the relationship, in violation of FBI policy.”
Multiple people familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive personnel issue, said the person in question is Tyson, one of the few women in a senior leadership role at the FBI.
The inspector general investigation “also found that the Assistant Director allowed the relationship to negatively affect an appropriate and professional superior-subordinate relationship and to disrupt the workplace by interfering with the ability of other FBI employees to complete their work, and that the Assistant Director participated in a hiring or organizational decision involving the subordinate, all in violation of FBI policy.”
Tyson referred questions to the FBI press office, which declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the inspector general also declined to comment.
