Lawmakers seek criminal probe of ex-chemical agency head

The top members of the House Oversight Committee want the Justice Department to investigate whether a former Obama administration official lied to their committee.

Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said Rafael Moure-Eraso, who was the chairman of the Chemical Safety Board until March, made various statements to the panel at hearings that were later contradicted by documents or other witnesses.

{mosads}The lawmakers, who are the chairman and ranking member of the committee, respectively, wrote to Attorney General Loretta Lynch Wednesday asking her to launch an investigation into Moure-Eraso to determine whether he committed various “serious crimes” and whether to prosecute him.

“The inconsistencies between Mr. Moure-Eraso’s testimony and other information received by the committee raise significant concerns about the truthfulness of Mr. Moure-Eraso’s testimony,” Chaffetz and Cummings wrote.

“Furthermore, the testimony in question is related to key aspects of the committee’s investigation, and in each case, Mr. Moure-Eraso appeared to answer questions in such a way as to avoid additional scrutiny.”

Moure-Eraso’s statements concern an investigation the Oversight Committee has been conducting since early last year into allegations he retaliated against whistleblowers, illegally used a personal email account for official business, created a generally hostile and abusive work environment, and other claims.

Those allegations led an increasing number of lawmakers of both parties to call for his resignation. He refused, leading President Obama to ask him to step down, which he did in March.

In an Associated Press interview, he denied knowingly lying to Congress.

“I never knowingly presented to Congress, to the oversight committee, any false information,” he told AP, adding, “I don’t think this has anything to do with bad faith on my part.”

He accused the lawmakers of trying to discredit the work he did throughout his five years at the chemical agency.

Chaffetz and Cummings accused Moure-Eraso of lying about three details: consulting with the agency’s lawyer about accessing employees’ emails, who was responsible for providing emails for an inspector general investigation and when he stopped using his personal email account.

“We are concerned by information and documents that suggest that Mr. Moure-Eraso’s testimony was not truthful,” the lawmakers wrote.

The panel also produced a video showing lawmakers asking Moure-Eraso various questions about the allegations in hearings and some of his responses.