Diplomat who ‘assaulted’ a woman said he ‘got a lot of punishment for nothing’

A married American diplomat told investigators he ‘got a lot of punishment for doing nothing’ before they determined he sexually assaulted a 22-year-old drunk woman at his overseas residence in Mexico, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

The Treasury Department Financial Attache, who worked at the US Embassy in Mexico City, was thrown out of the country after the woman accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex in a bathroom at his party on New Year’s Eve, 2014.

DailyMail.com obtained a transcript and a redacted photo from his interview with Treasury Department special agents after he was removed from Mexico through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Even though the allegations against him were substantiated, the Treasury Department has protected his identity and has rejected constant requests to name him.

During the interview, the attaché admitted there was sexual contact between him and the victim during the interview with investigators.

He also admitted cheating on his wife, rejected claims from people at the party that he was ‘drunker than they’d ever seen him before’ and insists that at no point the victim pulled away or gave any indication she was being coerced into performing the sex act on him.

The official also denied that he said he was ‘as hard as Lenin’s statue’ during his midnight toast. 

A married American diplomat told investigators he ‘got a lot of punishment for doing nothing’ before they determined he sexually assaulted a 22-year-old drunk woman at a at his overseas residence in Mexico, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal. Even though the allegations against him were substantiated, his identity has been protected by the US Government

A married American diplomat told investigators he ‘got a lot of punishment for doing nothing’ before they determined he sexually assaulted a 22-year-old drunk woman at a at his overseas residence in Mexico, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal. Even though the allegations against him were substantiated, his identity has been protected by the US Government

He rejected the victim’s allegations that she was too scared to resist his advance and she couldn’t get away as he was forcing her head down.

The alleged victim was on vacation and visiting a relative who worked at the Mexico City embassy at the time of the attack. 

He told the agents their encounter was consensual and she ‘never said stop’.

In a bid to make sure no one who knew his wife saw him, he moved into a quieter part of the apartment, he said in the interview.   

Initially, after the woman made the allegations, the unnamed official considered filing a ‘libel or slander’ case against the girl because of her allegations.

But he told investigators didn’t want to pursue legal action. He did, however, reveal that he believed his career was ruined as a result of the accusations. 

‘The punishment is already done… This (case) has been a career ender with the U.S. government. It cost me another job,’ he told the interviewers.

‘I’m really worried now that I can’t actually apply to any jobs based on my profession because people at banks can just call back to Treasury and be like “hey, we got this great resume. What do you know”.’

‘So like my past couple of weeks (after the alleged attack) have been figuring out like I have to go back to school.

‘At no point during this four or five, six minutes did she say like hey, calm down, or like whoa, you’re hurting me or I don’t want to do this.’

He reiterated that he rejected the allegations made against him, and revealed that his outlook for working for the US government ever again looked bleak.

‘I was never pushed away, I was never – like there wasn’t even like a hint. Like a slight hint of like I’m not comfortable here, ‘ he added.

‘I may be done. Like I may never be able to serve in the U.S. government again.

‘I may never be able to work for financial industry again because of this. It’s over right. Like I got a lot of punishment for doing nothing.’

Despite his denials and protests, the senior diplomat was removed from his overseas post and left the Treasury Department before he could be fired for his conduct.

Treasury Department officials told DailyMail.com that releasing the identity of the attaché would not be in the ‘public interest’, despite the ongoing scandal of men in positions of power sexually abusing and harassing women. 

The report of the investigation that was previously obtained by DailyMail.com, stated that the Treasury Department’s Office of the Inspector General substantiated the woman’s allegation and he was banned from working for the US government.

The probe, that was run by current OIG head Eric Thorson at the time, concluded he ‘likely’ did commit the sexual assault, but he was too drunk to notice her rejecting his advances.

Initially, the documents did not reveal where the encounter took place.

But new files obtained by DailyMail.com that were included in the investigation confirmed he was working in Mexico City.

DailyMail.com can also confirm, through a number of sources that he is now working for a high-flying financial firm and has recently had a child with his wife.

He told investigators he had lost one job at a bank as a result of the allegations, but was offered the lucrative position a short time later.

At the start of the interview he told the special agents, who have not been named, that at his New Year’s Eve party in 2014 he had been flirting with the woman throughout the night.

He also admitted to the agents that the woman did not know he was married, but other people at the party did. 

The interviewers asked the staffer to recount how he remembers the evening and pressed him for the details.

They asked him what happened when he first met the ‘girl in question’ and what led to their tryst in the bathroom. 

He said: ‘I spoke to her about the fact that she had graduated from college and that she had a job lined up for her at a gym or a swim school, or something like that. That she liked dogs a lot.

‘We had spent the entire night being quite flirtatious with each other,’ he added.

‘She tried tried to kiss me on the lips. Then I just sort of turned my face away to the cheek so that she – there were tons of times that we talked about going to the gym and working out and she on several occasions (she) put her hand in my shirt to say things like wow, you really work out, or something like that right. 

‘She wanted to go find a pool, or go to the gym with me, things like that. We had talked about getting together the week after (the party).

‘Or even the couple of days after the party. So yes, it was quite a bit of flirting.

He told the agents that at one point a college friend noticed how he was interacting with the woman and spoke to him.

The diplomat said his friend accused him of being ‘a little flirtatious’, and urged him ‘to tone it down a little bit.’

The Treasury Department Financial Attache, who worked at the US Embassy in Mexico City (above), was thrown out of the country after the woman accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex in a bathroom at a party on New Year’s Eve, 2014

The Treasury Department Financial Attache, who worked at the US Embassy in Mexico City (above), was thrown out of the country after the woman accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex in a bathroom at a party on New Year’s Eve, 2014

At midnight, he said the woman tried to kiss him, but he turned his head away because they were in a crowded room and he didn’t want anyone else to see, according to the transcript.

They were being friendly throughout the evening until they decided to move to what was known as the ‘maid’s quarters’ of his apartment, he said.

He told investigators the area is ‘basically a storage closet and a bathroom connected to it.’

‘It would have been completely out of sight of everyone. (We) made out there. I touched her, she touched me. And then we made our way into the bathroom.’

‘We made out and she put her hands on you know, everywhere on my body’.

He said he then ‘fingered’ her. 

‘She sat on the bathroom. Took my pants off, performed oral sex. And after I finished, she left first and then I followed after her.’

One of the special agents asks whether he heard the woman ‘crying or gasping for air’ when they were in the bathroom.

The punishment is already done… This has been a career-ender with the U.S. government. It cost me another job. I may never be able to work for financial industry again because of this. So a punishment like done. It’s over right. Like I got a lot of punishment for doing nothing’ 

‘No. No, absolutely not,’ he responded.

‘Did she ever say stop?

‘No. (she) Never moved my hands away, never pulled away, never tried to stand up. 

‘Never said stop, never yelled, never – she did nothing like that.’

When he left the bathroom he said a friend came up to him and told him she had ‘suspicions’ about what had just happened.

He told investigators that he said to her: ‘This makes me sound like a real scumbag.’

Then he insisted to the friend that nothing happened.

He told the agents: ‘One of the reasons it’s kind of been stressful is I sort of thought to myself like did I actually do something wrong?   

It wasn’t until later that in January 2014 that he was being investigated for his actions.

‘I was out with some folks that were visiting from the Treasury,’ he said in the interview

‘We had a long day of work and then we went to dinner and then to a few bars. And she (the victim) emailed me at midnight.

He described it as a ‘very like flirtatious email’ that ‘said something like “you never called me back to go to the gym. Were you afraid I’d like kick you butt” or something like that.’

She then called him.

‘This phone call like now that I’ve done like a little bit of like research on line like was like clearly like a call set up by the diplomatic security agents, ‘ he said.

‘I have absolutely no doubt about that. So I’m sure everything that they told her to write was fabricated in this email.

‘But at least from the vantage point of where I stood was, it was a super flirtatious email. She said she was out with some friends and that if she wanted to get together.’

He asked to meet up with her later that night, but she said it would be better to talk on the phone.

‘She called around 2:45 or maybe 3:00 am. Said she was out at a club with some friends visiting from the States. And then she basically said like “Oh, you really hurt me that night that we hooked up. And I didn’t realize that you were married.”

‘All I wanted to do was get off the phone with her, so I apologized a few times. And then that was it. And so that was the only other contact I had with her.’

Jack Lew was Treasury Secretary at the time of the investigation. He was appointed by President Obama. DailyMail.com have tried to contact him for a comment on the story, but he has not yet responded

Steve Mnuchin is the current Treasury Secretary. Officials in his department have also refused to name the diplomat

Jack Lew (left) was Treasury Secretary at the time of the investigation. He was appointed by President Obama. DailyMail.com have tried to contact him for a comment on the story, but he has not yet responded. Steve Mnuchin (right) is the current Treasury Secretary. Officials in his department have also refused to name the diplomat 

He said that the background on the call was completely silent, even though she claimed she was at a club.

Her constant demand for an apology also made him concerned that it was a set up by investigators.

Then he told her ‘don’t talk to people about that. Don’t tell people that we hooked up. It’s no one else’s business.’

Trying to quickly end the conversation, the diplomat then apologized to her.

‘I was just like look I’m sorry if I hurt you. I can’t remember the exact words that I used.

The special agents kept probing about the attache’s marriage and how the allegations had impacted their relationship.

He said: ‘One of the things that makes me like most uncomfortable in this questioning is the way that I handle my sexual relationship with my (wife) and like how we deal with like having contact outside of our marriage is like very private to us.’

After the call the fallout from the investigation began. The Treasury staffer told investigators a bank rescinded their offer after a ‘guy’ ‘leaked’ details of his case.

He said: ‘At the beginning of this, I had no idea what the charges even were, I had no idea how serious it was.

‘I didn’t know I was leaving the country, I didn’t know there was going to be a criminal prosecution.’

Diplomatic Security Agents then flew to the country where he was working, and asked him for a guest list to the party to help with their investigation.

A short time after that he was forced to leave Mexico, Treasury officials determined that he sexually assaulted the woman, but by then he had already left the government.

The U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, declined to prosecute the case, citing the ‘exacting standard of proof’ in criminal court.

However, according to the report, officials in the Treasury Department decided against criminal proceedings’ citing the ‘exacting standard of proof in criminal court and the availability of administrative actions’.’

It is not known whether or how the Treasury punished the attaché.

Jack Lew was Treasury Secretary at the time of the investigation. He was appointed by President Obama.

DailyMail.com have tried to contact him for a comment on the story, but he has not yet responded. 

The woman told department investigators that a few hours after the attack she texted a friend describing what had happened. 

On January 3, 2014, she told her brother about the alleged attack. He then reported to his supervisor and sparked a series of interviews.

On January 6, 2014, she had a medical examination, but doctors found no bruises, scratch marks, lacerations, bite marks of any other signs of trauma.

DSS Special Agents subsequently conducted interviews with the complainant, the attaché, 14 people who went to the party, and the medical professionals who examined the woman.

Eight people at the party said they didn’t notice any unusual contact between with the woman and the attaché, but six said the attaché was they were either ‘drunk’ or ‘very drunk’. 

The Treasury Department confirmed to DailyMail.com that the attaché no longer works with them, and left after the investigation into his conduct concluded. 

The attaché joined the Treasury in 2009. He was promoted to salary bracket GS-13 – meaning he earned between $74,584 and $96,958, in December, 2012.

An investigation by the Treasury’s Official of the Inspector General, that was run by current head Eric Thorson at the time, concluded he ‘likely’ did commit the sexual assault, but he was too drunk to notice her rejecting his advances

An investigation by the Treasury’s Official of the Inspector General, that was run by current head Eric Thorson at the time, concluded he ‘likely’ did commit the sexual assault, but he was too drunk to notice her rejecting his advances

Only officials employed to a rank of GS-14 and GS-15 earn higher salaries as civil servants.

Before he started his work at the embassy he worked for the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.Their aim is to monitor any international economic developments that would be benefit the US.

There are approximately 18 financial Attaché stationed in major financial capitals and high-risk jurisdictions around the world.

In Afghanistan and Iraq, they are focused on restructuring efforts after the war and the collapse of their governments.

It is the same agency that is part of the investigation into Maria Butina, the gun rights activist arrested in the US accused of acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Russia.

In January 2013, while Jack Lew was Treasury Secretary, he was transferred from the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence and named a Financial Attaché.

In December, 2017, it was revealed that The Treasury Department paid $174,000 over five years to settle sexual harassment cases, many involving members of Congress.

It is not known if officials in the Treasury paid anything to settle sexual harassment claims involving its own staff.

This isn’t the first time a government department has protected the identity of a high-ranking overseas official accused of misconduct while stationed abroad.

In January 2016, DailyMail.com uncovered that a US consulate employee had a child taken from his care because officials feared the minor was in danger following systematic abuse and neglect.

A document exposed how the International Trade Administration staff member allegedly subjected the minor to shocking care while working abroad and living in a house owned by the government

An investigation found the child was routinely underfed and encouraged to take their clothes off in the consulate residence so the man could allegedly take pictures of them naked.

At the time the unidentified employee also allegedly harassed female colleagues during his posting and used a government email address to meet women online.

Daily Mail Online obtained the damning document after submitting a Freedom of Information request to the Department of Commerce’s Office of the Inspector General.

The report revealed the employee had shared custody of the child.

According to the report, he would routinely forget to pick up the child from other consulate employees’ houses, left the minor at home alone and would only give them one apple to take for their school lunch.

He also, according to the document, took baths with the child, encouraging them to take their clothes off and would then take pictures of them while they were in a bath.

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk