INVESTIGATIVE SUMMARY I22INV00010 DATE: June 13, 2022

Lost FEC Laptop Reported by an Agency Employee 

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) initiated an 

inquiry on March 10, 2022, based on a referral from the Office of the Chief Information Officer 

(OCIO) that an agency employee with the Office of General Counsel (OGC) had lost her FEC 

laptop and may have failed to promptly report the loss in accordance with FEC policy. 

The inquiry did not find that the employee violated FEC policy concerning the transportation and 

control of FEC information resources, as the policy’s requirements for transporting devices and 

reporting stolen devices are vague and ambiguous. That policy (FEC Policy Number 58-4.3) 

provides that devices should not be left “unattended” and that personnel should report “stolen” 

devices “as soon as possible.” 

 

The inquiry determined that the employee’s conduct did not violate that policy for three reasons. 

First, the policy’s express language applies to “stolen” devices but does not reference missing or 

lost devices (as was the case here). As such, it is unclear that the policy applies to lost or missing 

devices that are not presumed stolen. 

 

Second, assuming the policy applies to lost devices, it provides that personnel should report 

stolen devices “as soon as possible,” as opposed to within a specific timeframe. The employee 

testified that she attempted to report the lost laptop the day she discovered it was missing but was 

unable to reach IT personnel that day. The employee successfully reported the missing laptop 

the following workweek, which agency IT personnel corroborated. Although it would certainly 

have been ideal for the employee to report the missing laptop sooner, the employee’s conduct 

arguably satisfied the policy’s reporting requirement. 

 

Third, the prohibition against leaving devices unattended does not define the term 

“unattended.” Although the employee stated she left the laptop with her niece while she 

purportedly sought emergency medical treatment, the policy does not provide that devices must 

be attended only by FEC personnel. A reader could reasonably interpret the policy to require 

that devices be attended by other (i.e., non-FEC) personnel. 

 

During the inquiry, the employee made numerous conflicting and incomplete statements and 

refused to cooperate with OIG investigators. Among other things, she reported having lost the 

laptop during an emergency hospital visit. However, the laptop was subsequently recovered 

from a different location (a supermarket). Despite having been asked about her whereabouts the 
Investigative Summary I22INV00010: Lost FEC Laptop Reported by an Agency Employee

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day the laptop was lost, the employee did not disclose having visited the supermarket with the 

laptop until after the laptop was recovered at the supermarket.

In addition, the employee refused to cooperate with OIG investigators and made other conflicting 

statements about the timeline of events surrounding the loss and recovery of the laptop. She 

refused to provide relevant documentation and identifying/contact information of a key witness 

(her niece) despite investigators’ requests. After refusing to attend a follow-up interview, the 

employee tendered her resignation from FEC employment. 

The OIG developed one recommendation to the FEC Office of Chief Information Officer:

Update FEC Policy Number 58-4.3 to contemplate missing and lost 

computing devices (in addition to stolen devices), to clarify timelines in 

which FEC personnel should report missing, lost, and stolen devices, and to 

clarify the meaning of “unattended” for purposes of transporting devices.