From the midweek Morning Jolt:

IG: Turns Out Homeland Security Is a Favor Factory, Too
The Washington Post reveals that the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General figured out . . . what most cynics figured out a long time ago:
Not long before he became governor of Virginia, Democrat Terry McAuliffe received special treatment on behalf of his electric-car company from a top official at the Department of Homeland Security, according to a new report from the department’s inspector general.
McAuliffe was among several politically powerful individuals from both parties, including Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), seeking special visas for foreign investors through a program administered by the department. But intervention on behalf of McAuliffe’s GreenTech Automotive company by Alejandro Mayorkas, now the department’s No. 2 official, “was unprecedented,” according to the report.
The long-anticipated report found no evidence of law-breaking. But members of the department’s staff perceived Mayorkas’s actions as “politically motivated,” and the report concluded that he had “created an appearance of favoritism and special access.”
This was a big deal, covered extensively on Campaign Spot . . . two years ago:
The Homeland Security Inspector General is investigating to see whether officials gave special treatment to GreenTech because of McAuliffe’s political connections. McAuliffe was central to GreenTech’s effort to get DHS to reverse decisions on visas:
When Department of Homeland Security officials balked at certain visa requests, McAuliffe and [GreenTech business partner Anthony] Rodham tried to go over their heads to keep the endeavor — called Project Mastiff — going. In a December 2010 letter, McAuliffe complained to then–Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano that her underlings ‘halted Project Mastiff in its tracks.’
According to Senator Chuck Grassley, a senior career employee at DHS wrote in response to a question from the press office about whether Greentech had received special treatment:
We absolutely gave special treatment to Green Tech at the directive of D1. D1 was working directly with the R[egional] C[enter]’s atty. . . . Additionally, I would call a wholesale rewrite of the AAO’s decision by the front office special treatment.
“D1″ is an apparent reference to Alejandro Mayorkas , director of DHS’s Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Back in July 2013, I wrote, “wonder if the investigation will be resolved before November of this year.” Hey, just 20 months, a year and a half into McAuliffe’s term as governor. The Post notes:
Mayorkas’s handling of the EB-5 program was questioned publicly in 2013, when he was under consideration for the No. 2 spot at the Department of Homeland Security. Half a dozen whistleblowers had complained to the inspector general and to Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) in 2012 and 2013 about favoritism in the granting of the visas. After contentious hearings, Mayorkas was confirmed in December 2013.
Special treatment for the politically connected matter on the security-sensitive issue of immigration . . . with no real consequence. Typical of the Obama era.