Why Was DOJ Silent About Border Patrol ‘Whipping’ Investigation Conclusion? What New Emails Reveal

After closing its investigation of a false allegation that Border Patrol agents whipped Haitian migrants in Texas in September 2021, Justice Department officials didn’t notify the targets of the probe—and opted to say little to the media about the once-hyped matter.

But department officials did want to notify Al Sharpton.

Emails obtained by The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project discovered the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division closed the matter on March 11, 2022.

The Border Patrol agents who were falsely accused of whipping weren’t notified that day.

Three days earlier, on March 8, 2022, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Robert Moossy Jr. emailed Justice Department colleagues: “We are near signing and officially closing the Del Rio [Customs and Border Protection] matter – We are just awaiting a final draft of the closing memo from [the U.S. Attorney’s Office], and then the criminal section chief will sign it, officially closing. Likely tomorrow. … Given the high-profile nature of this matter, I think we should discuss whether we need an outreach or media plan for our decision.”

A message on March 10, 2022, from Aryele Bradford of the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs to Justice Department colleagues suggested who Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke should notify about the department’s decision not to prosecute the case.

“Below is a list of stakeholders that AAG Clarke could connect with on this matter,” Bradford wrote. The list included “National Action Network: Al Sharpton.”

the next day in a 2:20 p.m. email, Dana Iverson, principal deputy director in the Justice Department’s Office of Public Affairs, told her colleagues the department decided against making a formal announcement the probe was closed.

It wasn’t until July 8, 2022, that Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility released a report that admitted there was no whipping.

“The investigation concluded that there is no evidence that any migrants were struck by reins and no evidence that any migrants were forced to return to Mexico or denied entry into the United States,” the CBP report says, but added: “Several agents engaged in unprofessional or dangerous behavior, including one instance in which an agent used denigrating and offensive language.”

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