Numbers suggest Obama administration is not as interested in fighting public corruption

Kathryn Watson of the Daily Caller examines the Obama administration’s record in battling public corruption.

President Barack Obama’s administration is prosecuting fewer federal officials for public corruption than his two predecessors, but Department of Justice (DOJ) officials aren’t talking about why.

Obama’s administration has pursued 16 percent fewer public corruption charges against federal employees than the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, according to a 2014 DOJ report to Congress on public integrity.

The Obama administration has filed an annual average of 390 such prosecutions, which represents a 16 percent decrease from the Bush and Clinton years.

The Clinton administration pursued corruption charges against 468 federal employees on average from 1995 to 2000, while the Bush administration compiled very nearly the same number on average annually — 467 — during his two terms. …

… Rep. Matt Salmon, an Arizona Republican and member of the House Freedom Caucus, said an emphasis on integrity starts at the top.

“What’s really interesting is that corruption is not a partisan issue,” Salmon told TheDCNF. “Republicans, Democrats, independents all demand integrity in their government. Yet during this administration, we’ve seen Fast and Furious, we are still waiting for answers on Benghazi, the IRS scandals, over and over and over again.”