Outside investigation could not confirm harassment allegations against top Department of Justice staffers, records show

Outside investigators could not corroborate complaints that two top Department of Justice officials harassed and abused female staffers and discriminated against racial minorities, according to documents released by the agency on Friday. 

The two University of Wisconsin administrators who were hired to look into the harassment complaints found that Deputy Attorney General Eric Wilson and Brian O'Keefe, the former head of the Division of Criminal Investigation, had likely not engaged in such behavior in most instances.

But the reports did find areas of "concern" in the actions of Wilson and O'Keefe, both of whom were top aides to Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul. 

For example, the investigators said it is likely that Wilson treated female staffers differently on the matters raised in the complaints, which accused him of bullying and abusive language. But the 75-page report said the investigators "did not find that … Wilson treated individuals differently because they identify as female."

The report, which was written in March 2020, also said Wilson "engaged in behavior of concern" in his handling of an open records request. 

In a separate, 41-page report, the same investigators said they couldn't find facts to back up allegations that O'Keefe was abusive and demeaning toward female workers.

But the report said O'Keefe, who retired earlier this month, "engaged in conduct of concern" when he disagreed with others or was asserting his authority over subordinates in a way that "negatively impacted employees in the workplace."

The reports, provided under an open records request, first came to light last month when Tina Virgil, the head of the Division of Law Enforcement Services, filed a race and sex discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accusing state officials of underpaying and mistreating her because she is a Black woman.

Virgil's complaint accused Wilson, Kaul's No. 2, of repeatedly mistreating female staffers, often exploding in anger when Virgil or other women disagree with him. She also said her calls were secretly recorded by O'Keefe, who was hoping to get her fired.

She called out Kaul for not releasing the results of the investigation by the UW System administrators, noting they had finished their work more than a year ago. 

Her attorney, Lester Pines, had no comment on the records released Friday, saying he needed time to review what the often heavily redacted documents said. Along with the investigative reports, the agency released hundreds of emails and other related materials. 

Spokeswoman for AG Josh Kaul defends response to complaints

Gillian Drummond, a spokeswoman for Kaul, released a statement placing the blame for many of the problems at the agency on his predecessor, former Attorney General Brad Schimel. Kaul narrowly defeated Schimel, a Republican, in November 2018. Schimel is now a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge.

Drummond said the agency took seriously the harassment complaints leveled against some of his top aides by Virgil, an appointee, and others. 

“When allegations were brought to the AG’s attention, DOJ took action to initiate an outside investigation by an independent entity," Drummond said. 

She explained the delay in the release of the reports by the outside investigators by saying officials had to follow up with those involved in the review. It then began the "extensive process" of preparing to release the records. 

"That process included offering both the complainants and the respondents the opportunity to review redacted reports prior to release," Drummond said Friday. 

Records show that the two UW System officials — Sarah Harebo, the head of Title X compliance, and general counsel Quinn Williams — were asked to investigate the allegations against Wilson and O'Keefe in December 2019. 

Wilson, the records say, was accused of a wide range of improper behavior throughout 2019, ranging from the use of profane language to discriminating against individual employees in protected classes such as racial minorities. The complaints against O'Keefe said he had been abusing and demeaning female workers from 2018 through 2019, meaning some of the allegations preceded Kaul's tenure. O'Keefe was a carryover from the previous administration.

Released records heavily redacted

Many of the specific allegations could not be spelled out because many of the pages in the investigative report are heavily redacted. In some cases, entire pages are not made public. 

But it is clear that O'Keefe is accused by a couple of staffers that he became angry with his subordinates frequently or made promises he couldn't keep. "Brian was difficult to work for and that he would yell, raise his voice, wag his finger and swear at employees," the report quotes one staffer as saying. 

Similar allegations were made against Wilson, including statements that he was either aggressive or argumentative with staffers or simply not responsive to certain female workers. 

One of the emails released by the state shows the allegations sometimes went both ways. One of the whistleblowers, whose name is redacted, is accused of interrupting Wilson at meetings, slamming glass doors, walking out of meetings and lying to a supervisor. She disputed all of the charges.

O'Keefe told the investigators that he didn't treat employees differently, whether they identify as male, female or nonbinary. The investigators noted that he had positive working relationships with many female workers. 

"That being said, we find by a preponderance of the evidence that there were instances that DAG (Deputy Attorney General) Wilson treated individuals, who identify as female, differently than their colleagues," the report said. "The merit of DAG Wilson's treatment of those individuals is for DOJ to determine. It should be noted that we do not find that DAG Wilson treated those individuals differently because the individuals identify as female."

The investigators also looked into claims that Jayne Swingen, the human resources director at DOJ, failed to act on the harassment complaints and pay inequities within the agency. The investigators said they found no facts to support those claims. 

Both Wilson and O'Keefe provided lengthy statements disputing the allegations or clarifying the record. 

In his, Wilson said the harassment complaints were made by a "small group of employees based on a limited set of interactions." He said he had been cleared by the independent investigation and by the agency. 

O'Keefe chose to criticize several of those who made complaints, accusing them of being biased or omitting key facts. He did acknowledge recording one staffer's phone call but said he did it for his own "personal protection."

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.