Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) sent a letter to Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks at the Department of the Interior Shannon Estenoz and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Director Martha Williams. The letter is part of their ongoing investigation into the failed "Operation Long Tail Liberation," which wasted taxpayer resources and failed to produce the information sought after, despite years of investigations. In part, the members wrote:

"The Committee is concerned with reports of alarming practices undertaken by agents in FWS’ Office of Law Enforcement during this internal investigation. The behaviors of FWS employees and contractors during the FWS’ internal investigation raise serious concerns regarding waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer funds. Worse yet, transcripts found within FWS’ production evidence shocking suspect interrogation techniques,  potential Fourth and Fifth Amendment violations, dubious at best legal arguments, and a general approach to criminal investigation and prosecution that falls far short of the United States criminal justice system’s high standards."

Read the full letter here.

Background

On June 6, 2024, the House Committee on Natural Resources opened an investigation into the USFWS’s "Operation Long Tail Liberation." During the operation, the USFWS relied on a paid informant to covertly gather information in Cambodia, without the knowledge of the Cambodian Government, that would serve as the basis of indictments for the illegal importation of macaques into the U.S. The informant, paid almost $225,000 in taxpayer money, was a Chinese National. Following his work for the United States in Cambodia, the U.S. government paid for him and his family to move to the U.S., set up a bank account for him and obtained a work authorization for him. 

Documents provided to the Committee show alarming accounts of a Cambodian government official being detained for hours without access to an attorney or his own consulate, while being questioned by USFWS officers.

To learn more, click here.