Attorney: Inspector General’s report cleared Robert Almonte

The attorney for former U.S. Marshal, Robert Almonte, who resigned under pressure on Thursday, spoke to ABC-7 Friday afternoon about the allegations against his client.

El Paso attorney Enrique Moreno told ABC-7 Almonte, 58, was cleared of any accusations in an Office of the Inspector General investigation concluded in January.

To download the OIG report on Almonte, click here.

Almonte was placed on administrative leave due to information gathered from anonymous complaints in a “climate survey” neither Moreno nor his client have seen.

“The Marshal and this community deserve better,” Almonte’s attorney, Enrique Moreno, told ABC-7. “We have asked to look at the climate survey, to at least even discuss the allegations in the climate survey, and we were denied the opportunity to see it or even to engage in any discussion. And so what is in this climate survey is a total mystery to us.”

The OIG report makes several allegations, including that Almonte “misused subordinates time by tasking them to serve as his personal driver for non-U.S. Government business; violated U. S. Marshals Service (USMS) policy by failing to obtain ethics approval to make presentations to outside law enforcement entities; and violated government ethics regulations by soliciting subordinates to contribute money to support various work-related events.”

The report also states the “OIG did not substantiate certain other allegations made against the Marshal by the anonymous complainants.”

However, it goes on to state: “During the OIG investigation additional misconduct allegations arose. The OIG determined that, in violation of USMS policy, the Marshal: misused USMS letterhead; misused the USMS name by allowing a non-profit organization to reference the USMS in its name; failed to disclose a board position and a fiduciary relationship with non-federal entities on his financial disclosure forms; failed to obtain ethics approvals for these positions; and violated the terms of his appointment by maintaining a fiduciary relationship with a previous employer.”

Moreno said there was an OIG investigation that was the result of some anonymous complaints, but that OIG investigation absolved Almonte “and for whatever reason, it was restarted.”

“We don’t know what they are alleging in the climate survey, because we haven’t seen it,” Moreno said. “We feel the truth is in the detail. We provided a very comprehensive response to that and think that anybody that would look at this objectively would conclude that the Marshal didn’t do anything wrong.”

Moreno sent ABC-7 a copy of his response to the OIG report. It details responses to every one of the allegations in the OIG report. You can download the file. The link is in the left hand side of the screen.