When did it become too much to ask that law enforcement officers actually follow the law?
Apparently, a federal agent — a supervisor with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — can lie to jurors, the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and get away with it relatively unscathed.
ICE supervisor Tony Rouco “willfully gave false testimony under oath” during the trial last year of Cory Voorhis, the ICE agent charged with illegally searching a federal criminal database and leaking information to the failed gubernatorial campaign of Bob Beauprez, according to an internal investigation.
Beauprez’s campaign used the information to create Willie Horton-style ads against then-candidate Bill Ritter. While Ritter served as Denver’s district attorney, his office allowed illegal immigrant Walter Ramo, an alleged heroin dealer, to plead guilty to a far lesser crime. On probation, Ramo committed a sex crime in California.
Ritter demanded an investigation since it is against federal law to use the federal criminal database for anything other than a legitimate law-enforcement activity.
Voorhis went to trial, but was found not guilty. He lost his job at ICE.
Voorhis has stated that Rouco supported his actions, according to The Post’s Karen Crummy.
After running names through the database, Voorhis says he told Rouco he gave the information to the Beauprez campaign and that Rouco supported him, saying his actions were legal and ethical.
But at trial, Rouco said that conversation never occurred. Over the next six months, Rouco continued to deny to the FBI and ICE that he knew of Voorhis’ actions.
After a polygraph test suggested Rouco was lying, he admitted exercising “bad judgment,” but then later changed his story, claiming that he told Voorhis “he was wrong and you can’t do that.”
But federal prosecutors have declined to try Rouco. Perhaps even more odd, ICE has kept him on the job and it appears he hasn’t even been disciplined.
At the very least, Rouco hardly seems like supervisor material. His job routinely requires him to swear under oath in court and in signing court papers.
ICE has declined to comment on “internal administrative issues,” but officials assert: “ICE holds all of its employees to the highest standards of ethics and professional behavior.”
We hope ICE will continue to investigate and justice will be served. Otherwise, we’re left to wonder: How is it possible that an ICE supervisor can alter his story, contradict key statements he made under oath and continue serving a role of such responsibility?
