Exclusive: Trump’s top border official broke FBI rules to fund happy hours
Tal Kopan Nov. 26, 2019
1of2Acting Customs and Border Protection chief Mark Morgan was investigated by the Justice Department inspector general.Photo: Drew Angerer / Getty Images
2of2Mark Morgan, acting Customs and Border Protection commissioner, speaks with reporters at the White House on Nov. 14.Photo: Alex Brandon / Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s top border official broke federal ethics rules in a previous job by seeking sponsors to buy alcohol and fancy food for FBI happy hours, according to a watchdog report exclusively obtained by The Chronicle.
Mark Morgan, acting commissioner of the Customs and Border Protection agency, continued asking the outside entities to pay for the social events even after being warned it was against federal rules, the Justice Department’s inspector general found.
The previously unreported finding raises questions about the Trump administration’s vetting process for top officials. Although Morgan’s role is typically subject to Senate confirmation, Trump has not nominated him for the job. That has circumvented the traditional review by the Senate — leaving it unclear whether the ethical lapse was ever known to the administration.
Customs and Border Protection and Morgan declined to comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The violations occurred when Morgan was working at the FBI in 2015 as deputy assistant director of the training division, according to the inspector general’s report. Midway through the investigation in the summer of 2016, Morgan retired from the FBI and was named under then-President Barack Obama to head the Border Patrol. He declined to cooperate with the probe after that, the report said.
Morgan’s hiring at the Border Patrol was specifically done with the goal of cleaning up the agency. It was the first time the agency had been led by someone who had never served in the Border Patrol.
It’s unclear whether the Obama administration knew about the open investigation. Inspector general procedures vary among agencies, and it would have been up to the Justice Department office to decide whether to tell the White House or Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the border agency, about the investigation.
Morgan, however, was aware of the probe, having been interviewed for it, and could have disclosed it.
The inspector general did not complete the report and issue the official finding of misconduct until January 2018. The FBI declined to comment on how it handled the inspector general’s findings.
The Trump administration initially saw Morgan as insufficiently supportive of the president’s hard-line immigration agenda, and Morgan was forced out of Border Patrol leadership in January 2017. However, Morgan became a vocal supporter of Trump on Fox News, and the president brought him back into the government in May 2019 to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which enforces immigration laws domestically.
In a reshuffling in June, Morgan was named acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, which handles immigration law at the nation’s edge and oversees the Border Patrol.
The report outlining Morgan’s misconduct in the FBI was never released publicly. The Chronicle obtained it from congressional offices, which were recently given copies. A brief summary of the “findings of misconduct,” without naming the officials involved, was released online by the Justice Department inspector general when the investigation was concluded, as is standard practice.
The probe began after an FBI employee reported concerns to the inspector general about an April 2015 meeting involving two officials under Morgan’s supervision. In that meeting, the two asked an outside group to sponsor the happy hours and buy alcohol and food for them, although a colleague who learned of the plan had warned them it would be against the rules.
They continued the sponsorship requests even after government lawyers told them in writing that doing so was against federal regulations, the inspector general found.
In two meetings with a potential sponsor, Morgan and an aide were told by a leader of the group that it was “inappropriate” to ask for sponsorship, the report said. The unnamed person then “coached” Morgan and the aide on how to present the idea as “an opportunity” for the group, the inspector general said.
Three such happy hours were ultimately held in June 2015.
The watchdog found that Morgan was fixated in 2015 on improving the FBI’s National Executive Institute course, a training program for leaders of large law enforcement agencies domestically and abroad. Key to that, he believed, was having social hours at the end of each day to provide alcohol and expensive meals to participants. Morgan was a graduate of the program.
Morgan and his aides asked three professional organizations to sponsor the happy hours, the report found: the National Executive Institute Associates, an affinity group for graduates of the program; the National Academy Associates, a group for graduates of the FBI National Academy; and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, a professional group for leaders of police departments.
The first two groups agreed to do so, while the police chiefs group declined. The National Executive Institute Associates spent roughly $3,000 on two of the happy hours, the report found. The cost of the third event was not specified. The groups did not respond to requests for comment on their recollection of the events.
In an interview with investigators, Morgan acknowledged that he had seen the lawyers’ written warning but disregarded it.
“That’s an opinion. It’s rarely set in stone,” Morgan told investigators.
“If there is a finding that we inappropriately solicited something, it’s absolutely on me,” he said.
The report does not include any feedback from the FBI, saying the findings were referred to the agency for follow-up action.
Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicle’s Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s top border official broke federal ethics rules in a previous job by seeking sponsors to buy alcohol and fancy food for FBI happy hours, according to a watchdog report exclusively obtained by The Chronicle.
Mark Morgan, acting commissioner of the Customs and Border Protection agency, continued asking the outside entities to pay for the social events even after being warned it was against federal rules, the Justice Department’s inspector general found.
The previously unreported finding raises questions about the Trump administration’s vetting process for top officials. Although Morgan’s role is typically subject to Senate confirmation, Trump has not nominated him for the job. That has circumvented the traditional review by the Senate — leaving it unclear whether the ethical lapse was ever known to the administration.
Customs and Border Protection and Morgan declined to comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The violations occurred when Morgan was working at the FBI in 2015 as deputy assistant director of the training division, according to the inspector general’s report. Midway through the investigation in the summer of 2016, Morgan retired from the FBI and was named under then-President Barack Obama to head the Border Patrol. He declined to cooperate with the probe after that, the report said.
Morgan’s hiring at the Border Patrol was specifically done with the goal of cleaning up the agency. It was the first time the agency had been led by someone who had never served in the Border Patrol.
It’s unclear whether the Obama administration knew about the open investigation. Inspector general procedures vary among agencies, and it would have been up to the Justice Department office to decide whether to tell the White House or Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the border agency, about the investigation.
Morgan, however, was aware of the probe, having been interviewed for it, and could have disclosed it.
The inspector general did not complete the report and issue the official finding of misconduct until January 2018. The FBI declined to comment on how it handled the inspector general’s findings.
The Trump administration initially saw Morgan as insufficiently supportive of the president’s hard-line immigration agenda, and Morgan was forced out of Border Patrol leadership in January 2017. However, Morgan became a vocal supporter of Trump on Fox News, and the president brought him back into the government in May 2019 to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which enforces immigration laws domestically.
In a reshuffling in June, Morgan was named acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, which handles immigration law at the nation’s edge and oversees the Border Patrol.
The report outlining Morgan’s misconduct in the FBI was never released publicly. The Chronicle obtained it from congressional offices, which were recently given copies. A brief summary of the “findings of misconduct,” without naming the officials involved, was released online by the Justice Department inspector general when the investigation was concluded, as is standard practice.
The probe began after an FBI employee reported concerns to the inspector general about an April 2015 meeting involving two officials under Morgan’s supervision. In that meeting, the two asked an outside group to sponsor the happy hours and buy alcohol and food for them, although a colleague who learned of the plan had warned them it would be against the rules.
They continued the sponsorship requests even after government lawyers told them in writing that doing so was against federal regulations, the inspector general found.
In two meetings with a potential sponsor, Morgan and an aide were told by a leader of the group that it was “inappropriate” to ask for sponsorship, the report said. The unnamed person then “coached” Morgan and the aide on how to present the idea as “an opportunity” for the group, the inspector general said.
Three such happy hours were ultimately held in June 2015.
The watchdog found that Morgan was fixated in 2015 on improving the FBI’s National Executive Institute course, a training program for leaders of large law enforcement agencies domestically and abroad. Key to that, he believed, was having social hours at the end of each day to provide alcohol and expensive meals to participants. Morgan was a graduate of the program.
Morgan and his aides asked three professional organizations to sponsor the happy hours, the report found: the National Executive Institute Associates, an affinity group for graduates of the program; the National Academy Associates, a group for graduates of the FBI National Academy; and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, a professional group for leaders of police departments.
The first two groups agreed to do so, while the police chiefs group declined. The National Executive Institute Associates spent roughly $3,000 on two of the happy hours, the report found. The cost of the third event was not specified. The groups did not respond to requests for comment on their recollection of the events.
In an interview with investigators, Morgan acknowledged that he had seen the lawyers’ written warning but disregarded it.
“That’s an opinion. It’s rarely set in stone,” Morgan told investigators.
“If there is a finding that we inappropriately solicited something, it’s absolutely on me,” he said.
The report does not include any feedback from the FBI, saying the findings were referred to the agency for follow-up action.
Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicle’s Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan
Follow Tal on:https://www.facebook.com/SFChronicle/TalKopan
Tal Kopan is the Washington Correspondent for The San Francisco Chronicle. Previously, she was a political reporter for CNN Politics, where she covered immigration, cybersecurity and other hot-button issues in Washington, including the 2016 presidential election.
Prior to joining the network, Kopan was a reporter for POLITICO in Washington, D.C., where she reported for their breaking news team and policy verticals, including a special focus on the Department of Justice, courts and cybersecurity.
Kopan started her career working in Chicago with local media outlets ABC7 Chicago and Fox Chicago News.
Her work has earned her awards and fellowships from the Atlanta Press Club; National Press Foundation; Loyola Law School, Los Angeles; and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Kopan graduated with honors from the University of Chicago with a bachelor's degree in “law, letters and society.”
Past Articles from this Author:
Rudy Giuliani mixed White House role, personal business in cybersecurity
Impeachment’s next phase will put these Northern Californians front and center
Trump’s impeachment is former prosecutor Eric Swalwell’s biggest case yet
Tal Kopan is the Washington Correspondent for The San Francisco Chronicle. Previously, she was a political reporter for CNN Politics, where she covered immigration, cybersecurity and other hot-button issues in Washington, including the 2016 presidential election.
Prior to joining the network, Kopan was a reporter for POLITICO in Washington, D.C., where she reported for their breaking news team and policy verticals, including a special focus on the Department of Justice, courts and cybersecurity.
Kopan started her career working in Chicago with local media outlets ABC7 Chicago and Fox Chicago News.
Her work has earned her awards and fellowships from the Atlanta Press Club; National Press Foundation; Loyola Law School, Los Angeles; and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Kopan graduated with honors from the University of Chicago with a bachelor's degree in “law, letters and society.”
Past Articles from this Author:
Rudy Giuliani mixed White House role, personal business in cybersecurity
Impeachment’s next phase will put these Northern Californians front and center
Trump’s impeachment is former prosecutor Eric Swalwell’s biggest case yet
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