After investigators for Horowitz concluded in March that the anti-fraud program had denied due process to claimants accused of fraud, Ennis inaccurately contended that the office of the health and human services inspector general followed similar practices, the report found. When Ennis was told her assertion was not accurate, she refused to correct it.
Ennis “made incomplete, misleading, and inaccurate representations about another [inspector general] to various government entities; failed to retract, withdraw, or otherwise modify those representations when informed they were untrue; and then wrongfully obstructed the investigation of her and other executives in her office,” the report found.
Ennis’s office faced increasing performance problems in recent years. The number of completed audits dwindled. Dozens of senior auditors, investigators and other staff quit or retired, many in frustration with what they described to The Post and congressional investigators as her mercurial leadership and lack of focus on the office’s mission. Ennis’s office at the time called the departures a normal increase in attrition under new leadership, and said she was making improving employee morale a priority.
Multiple law enforcement agents quit or retired after Ennis told employees her staff was monitoring employee computers during the coronavirus pandemic to ensure that the mostly remote workforce was productive. Ennis took disciplinary action against several law enforcement agents she cited for poor performance — a charge denied by the agents and their union, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. The group voted “no confidence” in Ennis’s leadership in 2021.
The Social Security Administration’s recently departed inspector general abused her authority and undermined the integrity of her office while under investigation for misconduct, a report from a committee of federal watchdogs found.
The report said she obstructed the probe by refusing to be interviewed, ordering subordinates and witnesses to limit access to information, and at times seeking to mislead investigators.
The report noted that the CIGIE panel that oversaw the investigation “carefully considered [Ennis’s] response and specifically found her arguments to be wholly without merit.”
In a letter sent on Saturday to the House and Senate committees that oversee Social Security, Ennis said she built a “more agile organization,” sought to tamp down scammers trying to steal money and personal information from retirees, and increased resources to fight disability fraud.
CIGIE’s report found that Ennis’s active resistance to its investigation included pressuring the group’s chairman with letters and phone calls to halt the probe.
After investigators for Horowitz concluded in March that the anti-fraud program had denied due process to claimants accused of fraud, Ennis inaccurately contended that the office of the health and human services inspector general followed similar practices, the report found.
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