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Former Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White speaks at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 12, 2017.

Former Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White speaks at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 12, 2017. (Jette Carr/U.S. Air Force photo)

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department’s inspector general detailed in a report released Thursday that the Pentagon’s former chief spokeswoman misused subordinates by having them carry out personal errands, including booking personal travel and handling her dry cleaning.

Dana White, who became chief Pentagon spokeswoman April 2017, was under a cloud from the ongoing Inspector General investigation when she stepped down from her role Dec. 31 after former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced his resignation.

The Inspector General investigated complaints that White “allegedly misused subordinates’ time to conduct personal services for her, and that she allegedly failed to treat subordinates with respect,” according to the report.

The inspector general investigation substantiated White misused subordinate’s time to conduct personal services for her and that some of those tasks also meant that she was accepting gifts from them. They found these requests included asking subordinates to book personal travel for her, driving her to and from the Pentagon, making an ATM withdrawal for her, buying lunch and snacks for her, scheduling makeup appointments, and handling her dry cleaning.

These personal services were in violation of the Joint Ethics Regulation that states an employee cannot request a subordinate to use official time to perform activities other than their official duties.

When she was misusing the personnel’s official time, the investigated stated White also improperly accepted gifts from subordinates when she was driven in their privately owned vehicles and when she accepted pantyhose that were purchased for her by a subordinate, both in violation of the Joint Ethics Regulation.

“Ms. White told us that while she did not request it, she allowed her subordinates to perform some personal services for her and accepted items of value from them,” the reports states.

After complaints were raised about these incidents, White reimbursed the mileage cost to the two people who had driven her on two occasions and she also paid the person back for the pantyhose, the report states.

The investigation did not substantiate an allegation that she failed to treat subordinates with respect. The complaint alleged she yelled at two of her subordinates about scheduling a home visit by a makeup artist, when flowers were delivered late to a funeral, and when a subordinate left the office phones unattended when they were handling her drying cleaning.

The investigation found one subordinate said White did not yell at her but the other said White yelled on the three occasions. The subordinate said it was about a “5 or 6 on a scale of 1 to 10, and that her normal voice was about a 3 on the same scale,” according to the report.

When White yelled at him about the late makeup artist and the phones being unattended, the subordinate said, “Her demeanor was belittling and a little aggressive, and it made him feel like he was not doing a good job,” according to the report.

The subordinate also said White did not curse or publicly berate him and other witnesses said they never saw her yell or “dress down” her subordinates. The investigators concluded White’s actions were not found to be an ethical violation.

Responding to the investigation’s Tentative Conclusions Letter, White’s attorney is mentioned in the Inspector General report as stating they reached “erroneous conclusions.”

“Any suggestion that Ms. White misused staff time or accepted gifts from her staff [in the form of time] has no basis in fact or law… The tasks in question were job-related. The government did not suffer any loss, and Ms. White did not realize any gain from them,” the attorney’s written response is quoted in the report.

The investigation also examined an allegation that Charles Summers, White’s principal deputy, did not take appropriate actions when told of White’s alleged misconduct. The inspector general did not substantiate the allegation against him, reporting he had spoken directly with White about the complaints and they found that action reasonable.

kenney.caitlin@stripes.com Twitter: @caitlinmkenney

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