Exclusive: Police responded to rape report at FDIC hotel known for booze-fueled parties

Police in 2017 responded to a report of rape at a hotel owned by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), according to police documents obtained by conservative watchdog American Accountability Foundation (AAF) and shared exclusively with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

FDIC employees used the corporation’s 11-story hotel in Arlington, Virginia, as a hub for partying, The Wall Street Journal reported in November. One reported rape incident occurred at the hotel’s address in 2017, the Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) confirmed in an email to the DCNF.

“The American people deserve answers regarding reports of sexual assaults at a federal government facility,” AAF President Thomas Jones told the DCNF. “The toxic culture at the FDIC is deeply troubling. There must be accountability and an immediate end to this misconduct.”

“On February 17, 2017, at approximately 5:23 p.m., officers responded to the report of a rape,” one report states. “The victim reported a non-consensual sexual encounter with a known suspect occurred between 6:30 p.m. and 2:10 p.m. on Febuary16, 2017 [sic].”

There have been no criminal charges filed in relation to the 2017 incident, the ACPD told the DCNF.

The FDIC is the main federal bank regulator and insures deposits.

The agency built the hotel for staff and training in the 1980s and it has over 350 rooms, a pool outside, and a patio on the roof where all levels of employees drank alcohol together, according to the WSJ. There have been numerous accusations of sexual harassment submitted to the agency over the years and the FDIC launched its most recent ongoing investigation into them in December.

“The Special Committee has appointed the law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP to conduct an independent review into allegations of sexual harassment and interpersonal misconduct, as well as issues relating to the workplace culture at the FDIC,” an agency press release states.

The FDIC is slow to crack down on alleged misconduct, according to individuals interviewed by the WSJ. The FDIC’s policies for addressing sexual harassment were insufficient, the agency’s inspector general found in 2020.

“It was just an accepted part of the culture,” former examiner-in-training Lauren Lemmer, who quit her job in 2013, told the WSJ.

One FDIC staff member who lived near the hotel shared her contact info with the hotel for emergencies, according to the WSJ. During her tenure at the FDIC, she got calls late at night multiple times and had to ensure staff did not require emergency medical care twice.

“Harassment in any form is contrary to the FDIC’s values and our deep commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace,” an FDIC official told the WSJ in November.

The FDIC declined to comment to the DCNF on the 2017 incident.

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