Anyone notice a pattern yet?
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5275917
WASHINGTON(AP) — A unit run by President Barack Obama's political staff inside the Environmental Protection Agency operates illegally asa "rogue law enforcement agency" that hasblocked independent investigations by the EPA'sinspector general for years, a top investigator told Congress.
Theassistant EPA inspector general for investigations, Patrick Sullivan, wasexpected to testify Wednesday beforea House oversight committee about the activitiesof the EPA'slittle-knownOffice of Homeland Security.The office of about 10 employeesisoverseen by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy'soffice, and the inspector general'soffice isaccusing it of impedingits independent investigations into employee misconduct, computer security and external threats, including compelling employeesinvolved incases to signnon-disclosure agreements.
"Under the heavy cloak of 'national security,' the Office of Homeland Security has repeatedly rebuffed and refused to cooperate with theOIG'songoing requestsfor information or cooperation," Sullivan wrote in prepared testimony obtained by The Associated Press. "Thisblock unquestionably has hamstrung theOffice of Inspector General'sability to carry out itsstatutory mandate to investigate wrongdoing of EPA employees."
TheEPA allegations arethe latest under the Obama administration to questionthe effectiveindependence of the government'sinspectors general, which ostensibly operate ontheir ownto investigate wrongdoing inside federal agencies. Two weeksago, the Homeland Security Department secretary put the agency'sformer inspector general on administrative leaveafter senatorssaid he was too cozy withsenior agency officialsand improperly rewrote, delayed or classified some critical reportsto accommodate Obama's political appointees.
Last year, the DefenseDepartment'sinspector general removed material from a draft report that concluded then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had improperly disclosed classified information about theraid that killed Osama Bin Laden to a producer for the movie "Zero Dark Thirty."
Theinspector general, Arthur A. Elkins, Jr., was appointed to lead the office by Obama in 2010. However, it's an independent office within theagency expected to be outsideof political influence.
"It's disturbing that even investigationsby this administration's own nonpartisan watchdogs are being blocked by political appointees," said House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
EPA'sOfficeof Homeland Security wasset up in 2003 by anadministrative order, and hasno statutory authority to conduct investigationsor enforcethe law, according to Sullivan'stestimony. Sullivan's opinion wasbacked up by a staffer in the Office of Compliance and Enforcement Assurance, but the agency hasnot issued a legal opinion on theoffice's role. Since July 2012, in anagreement with theFBI, it has been the primary contact on all investigations witha connectionto national security.
Thedispute between the inspector general'soffice and the Homeland Security office came to a head last year, as Republicans in Congress investigated the agency'shandling of John C. Beale, a former deputy assistant administrator who pleaded guilty in federal court last fall to stealing a total of $886,186 between 2000 and April 2013, falsely claiming hewasworking undercover for theCIA. The Beale casewasinitially investigated by the Homeland Security office months beforethe IG'sofficewasmade aware of it.
Another inspector general investigator, Elisabeth Heller Drake, will testify that McCarthy asked the inspector general'soffice to halt a probe into a homeland security office employee after he allegedly assaulted her in October, accordingto her prepared testimony. TheEPA saysthat claim isa mischaracterization and that McCarthy only asked that the investigation be paused until the internal dispute betweenthe two officeswassettled safely and efficiently.
Boththe IG'soffice and theEPA's lawyers have requested a third-party investigation into that incident by the Federal Protective Service, part of the Homeland Security Department.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5275917
WASHINGTON(AP) — A unit run by President Barack Obama's political staff inside the Environmental Protection Agency operates illegally asa "rogue law enforcement agency" that hasblocked independent investigations by the EPA'sinspector general for years, a top investigator told Congress.
Theassistant EPA inspector general for investigations, Patrick Sullivan, wasexpected to testify Wednesday beforea House oversight committee about the activitiesof the EPA'slittle-knownOffice of Homeland Security.The office of about 10 employeesisoverseen by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy'soffice, and the inspector general'soffice isaccusing it of impedingits independent investigations into employee misconduct, computer security and external threats, including compelling employeesinvolved incases to signnon-disclosure agreements.
"Under the heavy cloak of 'national security,' the Office of Homeland Security has repeatedly rebuffed and refused to cooperate with theOIG'songoing requestsfor information or cooperation," Sullivan wrote in prepared testimony obtained by The Associated Press. "Thisblock unquestionably has hamstrung theOffice of Inspector General'sability to carry out itsstatutory mandate to investigate wrongdoing of EPA employees."
TheEPA allegations arethe latest under the Obama administration to questionthe effectiveindependence of the government'sinspectors general, which ostensibly operate ontheir ownto investigate wrongdoing inside federal agencies. Two weeksago, the Homeland Security Department secretary put the agency'sformer inspector general on administrative leaveafter senatorssaid he was too cozy withsenior agency officialsand improperly rewrote, delayed or classified some critical reportsto accommodate Obama's political appointees.
Last year, the DefenseDepartment'sinspector general removed material from a draft report that concluded then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had improperly disclosed classified information about theraid that killed Osama Bin Laden to a producer for the movie "Zero Dark Thirty."
Theinspector general, Arthur A. Elkins, Jr., was appointed to lead the office by Obama in 2010. However, it's an independent office within theagency expected to be outsideof political influence.
"It's disturbing that even investigationsby this administration's own nonpartisan watchdogs are being blocked by political appointees," said House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
EPA'sOfficeof Homeland Security wasset up in 2003 by anadministrative order, and hasno statutory authority to conduct investigationsor enforcethe law, according to Sullivan'stestimony. Sullivan's opinion wasbacked up by a staffer in the Office of Compliance and Enforcement Assurance, but the agency hasnot issued a legal opinion on theoffice's role. Since July 2012, in anagreement with theFBI, it has been the primary contact on all investigations witha connectionto national security.
Thedispute between the inspector general'soffice and the Homeland Security office came to a head last year, as Republicans in Congress investigated the agency'shandling of John C. Beale, a former deputy assistant administrator who pleaded guilty in federal court last fall to stealing a total of $886,186 between 2000 and April 2013, falsely claiming hewasworking undercover for theCIA. The Beale casewasinitially investigated by the Homeland Security office months beforethe IG'sofficewasmade aware of it.
Another inspector general investigator, Elisabeth Heller Drake, will testify that McCarthy asked the inspector general'soffice to halt a probe into a homeland security office employee after he allegedly assaulted her in October, accordingto her prepared testimony. TheEPA saysthat claim isa mischaracterization and that McCarthy only asked that the investigation be paused until the internal dispute betweenthe two officeswassettled safely and efficiently.
Boththe IG'soffice and theEPA's lawyers have requested a third-party investigation into that incident by the Federal Protective Service, part of the Homeland Security Department.