Top Intel Official Who Led Afghanistan Crisis Team Had ‘Inappropriate Relationship’ and Misused Email, Investigation Finds

A Pentagon report shows that Defense Department Director Garry Reid has been relieved of his duties for “inappropriate conduct” with a “female subordinate and improper use of his personal email for official business,” according to the Western Journal.

Reid’s dismissal was first reported by Politico last Friday. Their report noted that Reid had been relieved, but that one source told the outlet that as of last week Reid was still working for the DOD.

Multiple outlets report that neither Reid nor the Pentagon are responding to requests for additional information.

The Washington Journal report notes that the Pentagon conducted a review in April 2020 of work in the Afghanistan theater from 2019-2020. During that time period, Reid served as Director of the Afghanistan Crisis Action Group, which was formed to facilitate the unceremonious withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Reid’s department was also tasked with screening, protecting and resettling Afghans who worked with or supported U.S. troops on the ground in Afghanistan.

Later, Reid’s office had a lead role in screening military records for possible ties to involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, protest and breach of the Capitol.

The Pentagon’s inspector general noted that Reid was accused of having a sexual relationship with a subordinate, identified as “Employee 1.”

The Debrief posted the report on Friday, describing the dismissal:

It’s not entirely clear what led to Reid’s recent dismissal. However, multiple defense officials familiar with the situation told The Debrief they believed the weight of the numerous past allegations, the disastrous withdrawal of refugees from Afghanistan, and current investigations into misconduct were too significant, and ultimately led to his dismissal.

The report also noted that several members of Reid’s staff claimed he had “engaged in an overall course of conduct with Employee 1 that created a widespread perception of an inappropriate relationship and favoritism.”

Importantly, the report also noted that “we did not find evidence to substantiate the anonymous allegation that Mr. Reid and Employee 1 engaged in a ‘sexual affair’ and both denied the allegation.”

The report noted that Reid and the employee traveled together on personal trips, often had private lunches and were known to kiss each other on the cheek.

The report also noted Reid’s indiscretion:

As a supervisor, Mr. Reid should have used better judgment. Instead, he established and maintained a close and unduly familiar relationship with Employee 1, creating a widespread perception among 11 witnesses at different levels within Mr. Reid’s organization of an inappropriate relationship and favoritism.

Considering his overall course of conduct, we concluded that Mr. Reid’s supervision and mentorship of Employee 1, while also having a close and unduly personal relationship with her, led employees to call into question his impartiality regarding his decisions concerning Employee 1.

Pentagon officials also concluded that Reid “improperly used his personal e-mail accounts to conduct official DoD business.”

According to the Pentagon report, Reid acted “in violation of DoD policies. … We determined that Mr. Reid forwarded DoD official communications and information … to his personal e-mail accounts, which were shared accounts.”

According to a previous Politico report, two former government officials claim Reid was among those named in another inspector general’s department complaint. That filing was made by a former DOD employee who, in May 2021, alleged that Reid was involved in a “disinformation campaign” regarding UFOs.

The Debrief’s news site notes that the Director of National Programs Special Management Staff at OUSD(I&S), Luis Elizondo, accused Reid of “playing a central role in obfuscating information regarding the Pentagon’s intriguing newfound interest in ‘unidentified aerial phenomena,’ more commonly known as UFOs.”

Elizondo continued: “Reid was also accused of maliciously misleading the public about Elizondo’s involvement with the DoD’s quasi-secret UFO program, the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP).”