[April 15, 2025] As a military officer, I’ve used investigations as a tool to ferret out the truth of wrongdoing when other avenues were closed. In my experience, investigations are also used unethically to punish leaders or to harass them.1 When this leader tool is used as a weapon, everyone loses.
“About all I can say for the United States Senate is that it opens with a prayer and closes with an investigation.” – Will Rogers, American actor, cowboy, humorist, commentator
The perpetrators of such misuse of investigations are rarely punished. In any organization, there will be unscrupulous people who attempt to gain money, fame, promotion, or power by corrupting the rules of fairness. In such places, there are clear-cut procedures on how to properly and morally use investigations, yet little is said when they are used for unethical purposes.
Misuse of investigations must change if we are to make progress as leaders. It is the responsibility of each of us to do whatever they can to avoid the fraudulent use of this leadership tool. We saw this play out at the highest levels of politics in America when the political and judicial segments of our nation joined forces to investigate and prosecute President Donald J. Trump in his first term in office.
When I was a boy and played baseball, if you lost, then you lost honestly and without cheating. Like all my friends, we never liked to lose a game (which was often), but to cheat would label us as untrustworthy, and the fallout would be immediate. If we cheated, our team would not be allowed to play other teams. Our parents would be notified (a great fear). And we would be called a “cheater” in school. There was nothing worse than a cheater, a betrayer of a sacred, often unspoken trust among our acquaintances.
When investigations are used as a weapon, the user is cheating. A few years before my retirement, a senior civilian in the U.S. Army had been performing poorly. She failed to complete simple tasks or to supervise her subordinates. When her superior officer counseled her for her poor performance, she filed a harassment charge against him. This investigation delayed her being held accountable, which is exactly what she wanted.
Six years ago, people were studying the U.S. Department of Justice report known as the Mueller Investigation. Many have called this out as an example of an attempt to punish a sitting U.S. President because they disagreed with him politically.
The best leaders lead by example. It turned out the Mueller Investigation was used as a weapon to derail the Trump presidency.
Good leaders should closely study this effort by the Hillary Clinton campaign and confederates in the FBI and DOJ. Investigations should not be used as a ticket for a free ride to get back at those they dislike or disagree with.
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I always look forward to a good read from Gen. Satterfield and he’s done it again. 😀
EXACTLY RIGHT. “Good leaders should closely study this effort by the Hillary Clinton campaign and confederates in the FBI and DOJ. Investigations should not be used as a ticket for a free ride to get back at those they dislike or disagree with.” — Gen. Doug Satterfield has it down good. Hillary Clinton and those who in the FBI who allowed this should be properly investigated for malfeasance of duty, prosecuted, and if need be, imprisoned.
I looked on the Internet, searching for more articles on this topic but couldn’t find any. I’m sure they are there. The only case i know of is the Biden Administration using the DOJ and FBI to go after their political opponent Donald Trump and his staff in his first term. That included the FBI planting nefariously, tainted and made up “evidence” and then prosecute him for it. This will go down in American history as a time when investigations were used as a criminal tool to attack the innocent.
Very true, Wilson. You nailed it. Shameful AND illegal behavior by the Democrats.
Interesting! Gen. Satterfield, I was unaware but since, I looked into this idea of wielding “investigations”as a tool to destroy rather than to root out problems and wrongdoing.
Lots and lots of information out there on how to properly conduct yourself if accused of wrongdoing. “Accused of Gross Misconduct at Work – What to Do & Your Rights” https://www.safeworkers.co.uk/employment-law/accused-gross-misconduct/ This is one example from the UK. There are many more. The issue that Gen. Satterfield is bringing up is the misuse of the investigation process itself. What senior leaders need to be aware of is that this occurs much more often than we might think and they need to stop them in their tracks, warn the person making unfounded accusations and then not be a weak leader who lets the investigation go forward. This puts a target on the innocent accused, and that can be devastating. Don’t fall into the trap of supporting unfounded accusations or investigations.
Sad but true. No matter the system in place to fix problems, there will always be someone who will use it for evil.
Reality is always a dog in the fight. Either you join in, or you get bitten.
I, too, have seen this sort of thing happen in Corporate America. I think it gets back to having too many lawyers LOL. Or maybe encouraging this sort of entitlement behavior.
I’ve seen these “investigations” misused in the US Army but only when a weak or poor leader allows it to go through. That’s the purpose of a good leader, to only allow properly authorized investigations to move forward. If it is unfair, he should stop it.
Army CPT, point well taken. I can see that as a reason but let’s not forget that there are some really bad (read that as evil) actors who are willing to purposefully utilize investigations to gain power, punish their superiors or those they do not like. This is all the more reason that we promote and give deference to the most moral of leaders.
Exact. Sadly, we are raising a generation of weak men and women. Our future rests on this few who are strong and moral.
Sad but true. The Army and the other services need to promote great leaders and do away with their DEI hires. Do it now!!!!!!!