FARE THEE WELL DEAR MICHELE!

DEA head Michele M. Leonhart, who courageously exposed medical marijuana as a hoax, comes under fire for the misconduct of some agents in a far-away foreign country

Michele M. Leonhart was appointed DEA Administrator in 2010, after having acted in that capacity for three years. Michele, the first woman to hold the top spot in a federal law enforcement agency, has done an outstanding job, both as Acting Administrator and for the past five years as the official head of the DEA.

On June 21, 2011, Michele infuriated the pro-pot crowd and liberals by refusing to reclassify marijuana andfor exposing medical marijuana as a hoax. The federal government ruled that marijuana has no accepted medical use and should remain classified as a highly dangerous drug like heroin.

In a letter to organizations petitioning for a reclassification of marijuana, Michele Leonhart declared that marijuana "has a high potential for abuse," "has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States" and "lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision." The letter and 37 pages of supporting documents were published in the Federal Register.

Instead of being scorched for her positions on marijuana and medical pot, Leonhart deserves to be commended for having the courage to stand up against a rising tide of pro-pot sentiment.

But now it appears to be payback time. A senior administration official tells CBS News Senior White House Correspondent Bill Plante that Michele will be stepping down soon. It’s obvious that she will be forced out of office for the misconduct of some DEA agents stationed in a foreign country.

The DEA misconduct came to light when the Justice Department investigated the 2012 conduct of President Obama’s advance Secret Service security detail. Prior to Obama’s arrival in Cartagena, Columbia, quite a few of the Secret Service agents cavorted around and partied with local prostitutes. The misconduct became public when Dania Suarez, one of the hookers, went to the police to complain that Arthur Huntington, one of the agents, had refused to pay her for her services.

Subsequent investigations of that Secret Service scandal forced Director Mark Sullivan to retire in 2013. The investigations also uncovered the DEA misconduct.

As for the DEA scandal, CBS DC reports:

Leonhart came under fire after an internal report said government money was used to pay prostitutes at a farewell party for a high-ranking DEA official in Colombia.

DEA agents also rented undercover apartments in Colombia and used them for parties with prostitutes, the DEA said in an internal report.

Excerpts of the report were released last week by the oversight panel, which is investigating questionable behavior highlighted in a March report by the Justice Department’s inspector general that examined sexual harassment and misconduct allegations from 2009 to 2012.

The Justice Department report recounts allegations that DEA agents attended sex parties with prostitutes, funded by local drug cartels, in a foreign county. The report does not identify the country where the alleged sex parties occurred, but the DEA report identified it as Colombia.

Leonhart was scorched earlier this month by a Congressional oversight committee because none of the scandalous agents had been fired. One would expect the Democrats to jump all over her, which they did, but so did the Republicans. When Leonhart said that federal civil service regulations made it hard to fire agents, that she could not intervene in any disciplinary process, and in some cases cannot even revoke an agent’s security clearance, the Republicans pounced.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican, said it was “stunning” that no one had been fired and asked, “What would it take to get fired at the DEA?” Then he demanded to know,, “What the hell do you get to do?”

Rep. Mark Walker, aNorth Carolina Republican, charged that “From what we’ve heard, this reflects a ‘spring break frat party’ mentality for the last 15 years at the DEA.”

Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Leonhart deserves much of the blame for a “cultural problem” at the DEA and concluded the hearing by saying, “You get called before this committee and say ‘Oh, it’s terrible, it’s awful.’ But you personally have been responsible for this for more than a decade and you didn’t do anything about it.”

Chaffetz told The Associated Press that Leonhart has ignored problems at the DEA for more than 10 years. “It’s time for her to go. I don’t have confidence in her, nor does the majority of the committee.”

Chaffetz, a Reagan convert to the Republican Party, has never spent one minute in a cop’s shoes. He has never faced the daily stress and occasional moments of sheer terror faced by law enforcement officers. Unlike the DEA agents in Columbia, Chaffetz, Gowdy, Walker and the other committee members have never been stationed thousands of miles away from home and family facing danger at every turn.

The ‘frat party’ culture they are complaining about is quite common throughout the law enforcement profession. Policing is still mostly a man’s job, and boys will be boys! The stress and occasional terror leads to a lot of drinking and debauchery. During my forty years of association with law enforcement – both as a cop and criminal justice professor – I have attended many parties which I will not describe so as not to embarrass myself and my fellow party goers. But that’s how many cops blow off steam.

The DEA agents stationed in Columbia and other far-away drug producing countries not only face danger on a daily basis, but they are also pretty well isolated from others. And when they’re working undercover, they are not going to play the roles of Boy Scouts.

As for the DEA misconduct, paying prostitutes with government money at a farewell party for a high-ranking officer is certainly not kosher. Renting undercover apartments for parties with prostitutes is not kosher either, unless those parties were part and parcel of an undercover operation. But attending sex parties that were paid for by the very people the agents are trying to bring down is strictly verboten. That should be a firing offense!

Even if the parties were part of a legitimate undercover operation, having sex with a drug cartel hooker could compromise a whole investigation. There’s always that inevitable pillow talk and there is no way of predicting what a drunken agent might tell his bedmate.

On April 10, in one of his last acts as Attorney General, Eric Holder issued the following warning to all Justice Department employees:

"The solicitation of prostitution threatens the core mission of the Department, not simply because it invites extortion, blackmail, and leaks of sensitive or classified information, but also because it undermines the Department's efforts to eradicate the scourge of human trafficking. I want to reiterate to all Department personnel, including attorneys and law enforcement officers, that they are prohibited from soliciting, procuring, or accepting commercial sex at all times, including while off duty or on personal leave."

Yeah, right Eric, lots of luck with that one. Let’s see now, you’ve been Attorney General for more than six years and it took you this long to learn that Justice Department employees have been cavorting with prostitutes.

There are about 5,000 agents in the DEA, with many of them stationed in the dangerous drug producing countries of Asia and Latin America. I do not for one second believe that Michele condones any misconduct within her agency. With 5,000 agents there is bound to be misconduct by some of them. And information about some misconduct never rises all the way to the top. So, should Michele be held accountable for the conduct of each and every member of the DEA? Not in my book!

The members of Congress who want Leonhart ousted are nothing more than political hacks who will cut your throat to get one more vote. I strongly suspect that whoever replaces Michele as DEA Administrator will be an Obama administration ass-kisser who is likely to please the pro-pot crowd and the liberals.

Although Leonhart has not submitted her resignation yet, it seems obvious that due to the unjust Congressional committee criticism, she will step down soon. The announcement of her resignation is merely being held up until President Obama and new Attorney General Loretta Lynch have decided on her successor.

So we say, fare thee well dear Michele! You have been both a foot-soldier and a commander in the war on drugs. You have done an outstanding job during your entire drug enforcement career. You can hold your head far higher than any of your shameless critics, both within and outside of the government. Those of us who are opposed to the liberalization and legalization of illicit drugs love you and will miss you.