The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) Blog

Air Force Lifts Booz Allen Suspension, Contractor Admits to "Broader Systemic Ethical Deficiencies" and "Additional Improper Actions"

By NEIL GORDON

On Friday, Booz Allen Hamilton announced that its San Antonio office was removed from the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) and regained full eligibility to compete for new federal contracts. Booz Allen entered into a three-year administrative agreement with the U.S. Air Force. We strongly encourage you to read the agreement, which contains several astonishing admissions about the company’s ethics environment and business practices.

POGO blog readers may remember that Booz Allen’s San Antonio office was proposed for debarment in February because, in April 2011, an employee at the office disseminated protected, non-public procurement information in apparent violation of the Procurement Integrity Act. On his first day of work, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Joselito Meneses shared with his co-workers sensitive pricing data he had obtained while at the Air Force that gave Booz Allen an unfair competitive advantage in an upcoming procurement. Meneses and four of the co-workers with whom he shared the data were also proposed for debarment. (A search of the EPLS today reveals that Meneses and two co-workers are still proposed for debarment. The other two employees’ suspensions were lifted in March.)

Booz Allen accepted responsibility for the incident and agreed to implement company-wide ethics reforms and other remedial measures. Booz Allen also agreed to pay the Air Force $65,000.

According to the facts outlined in the administrative agreement’s preamble, Booz Allen’s law department learned of the improper disclosure approximately six weeks after it occurred:

Why Doesn't the Federal Reserve Disclose Waivers Granted to Senior Officials?

By MICHAEL SMALLBERG

The Federal Reserve has made headlines recently for its efforts to be more transparent, as illustrated by its recent decision to start publishing the predictions of senior officials regarding short-term interest rates.

As the Fed tries to be more open about its decision-making, it should also consider providing more information to the public about its policies for handling potential conflicts of interest.

In September 2008, for example, as the country faced a severe economic crisis, two members of the Fed's Board of Governors received waivers so they could work on the central bank's emergency bailout programs, despite their ongoing financial stake in firms that would go on to receive substantial assistance from the Fed.

The waivers, signed by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, were granted to Board members Kevin M. Warsh and Elizabeth A. Duke, who had previously worked at Morgan Stanley and Wachovia, respectively. POGO obtained the waivers in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

President Obama Signs the STOCK Act into Law

By SUZANNE DERSHOWITZ

POGO just returned from the White House signing ceremony for the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, or STOCK Act--an important ethics and anti-corruption bill. The STOCK Act clearly prohibits Members of Congress, their staff, and executive branch employees from using nonpublic information for insider trading.

The new law requires Members of Congress and government officials to publicly report any transactions exceeding $1,000 in stocks and bonds within 45 days after a trade. It also requires officials’ public financial disclosure reports be made available online on agency websites and ultimately through searchable, sortable databases. This is an important step forward—previously, paper copies were only made available upon request.

We are also pleased the new law requires the strong executive branch coverage we advocated for. POGO hopes the law will be implemented as soon as possible, and we will be keeping a watchful eye out for online posting of officials’ public financial reports at the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) website. The bill includes a few other new good measures, such as expanding pension forfeiture for corrupt Members, requiring Members and high level officials to disclose the terms of personal mortgages, and limiting Members and senior employees from participation in initial public offerings (IPOs).

While the STOCK Act is a great start, we are disappointed that several key provisions got cut along the way. POGO called for an open, transparent House-Senate conference to ensure the strongest bill would go to the President, and we were deeply disappointed that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) moved to force a vote on the House version without convening a conference committee.

An amendment by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) in the original Senate version of the bill would have required political intelligence consultants to register and report their activities, disclosing who their clients are and on which specific issues they are employed to gather information. Given the minimal reporting of communications of influence between this multi-million dollar industry and government, POGO hoped this provision would have been included in the law (POGO exposed a particularly egregious example of this late last year). Grassley was one of the three “no” votes on the watered-down bill.

Public corruption prosecution improvements were also scrapped from the final version of the bill that made it to the President’s desk. The critically needed “honest services” and “illegal gratuities” provisions in the original Senate bill would have clarified crimes of illegal gratuities, bribery, and graft—categories of deceptive conduct eroded in the Supreme Court’s ruling in Skilling v. United States.

We hope the congressional momentum for greater accountability in government will endure. Signing the STOCK Act is a good beginning, but more work needs to be done. POGO urges Congress to pass the much-needed reform provisions that were slashed during the process, either as standalone legislation or amendments to the bill the President signed into law today. 

Suzanne Dershowitz is POGO's public policy fellow.

GSA OIG, Office of Government Ethics Taking Steps Towards Open Government

By SCOTT AMEY

POGO recently learned about two agencies that are promoting an open government agenda that will help the public learn more about contractors and government officials.

First, the General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) established a website that helps you track down records of state suspensions and debarments. This website is a great resource for the public as well as federal contracting officers who are charged with checking the responsibility records of federal contractors. The GSA OIG is actually assisting the GSA, which is required to include state cases in the Federal Awardee Performance & Integrity Information System(FAPIIS)—a list of contractors and grantees with criminal, civil, and administrative misconduct. That system closely mirrors POGO’s Federal Contractor Misconduct database—a centralized database of contract and non-contracted related misconduct.

However, when FAPIIS was created, the government opted to postpone the inclusion of state cases “until a subsequent phase of FAPIIS.” The GSA OIG is providing a great public service because state and local governments utilize GSA programs to buy goods and services. The website is easy to use—pick a state on the interactive map and click to see the list of excluded contractors. Not all states have such a list. In addition, some of the state data is several years old, so there might have to be some additional fact-finding, but it’s great to see a more unified front when it comes to avoiding risky contractors. Although perusing multiple federal and nongovernmental websites isn’t ideal, it is currently the only way for governments to ensure that they are buying goods and services from responsible contractors.

Un-Do Influence: Obama's Lobbyist Ban is Tough (Except When It Isn't)

Facepalm Ratings Guide = Stupefying example of everything that's wrong with the system. = Outrageous; shameless, even. = Worthy of rebuke. = Even if there's no conflict of interest, appearances matter.

---------------------------- Click here to join POGO's Un-Do Influence campaign.

By JOE NEWMAN

For a guy who likes to talk about keeping lobbyists out of his administration, President Barack Obama sure doesn't mind making some notable exceptions.

Now comes the latest dust-up involving Vice President Joe Biden's hiring of Steve Ricchetti to be a senior advisor. That's the same Steve Ricchetti whom the Obama campaign in 2008 attacked for being a lobbyist/bundler for then Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Listening to the administration spin the hire is pretty funny. Ricchetti hasn't personally lobbied since 2008. What was he doing instead? He was running his, um, lobbying(!) firm.

Obama has taken legitimate and laudable steps to slow the revolving door between lobbying firms and the White House and reduce private interests' disproportionate influence on executive branch policymakers. The restrictions he passed upon taking office were unprecedented, and intended to reduce industry influence peddling. 

But then there are those waivers and exceptions. Those are fine by us if they're used to bring public interest lobbyists into the fold. Not so much when they're granted to, say, a lobbyist for a top defense contractor. 

Look, lobbying, per se, isn't a bad thing. There's a place in our democracy for it—citizens, and that includes those paid to represent special interests, have a right to directly petition their elected leaders.

But one only has to look to Jack Abramoff to see how the system can be corrupted when lobbyists with access to piles of cash are able to buy influence through gifts, perks, campaign contributions and in the worst cases—bribes.

President Obama was right to want to distance himself from their influence. But if you're going to talk the talk, you've got to expect to some flak when you (or your vice president) bend your own rules. Sorry, Mr. President, the buck stops with you—you and Vice President Biden earned four facepalms.

***

Penn's Awkward Silence on Academic Integrity

Controversial DARPA Chief Regina Dugan Bolts for Job with Google

Regina Dugan at Cal State Fullerton Commencement

Click here to join POGO's Un-Do Influence Campaign: a movement to reclaim Washington

By JOE NEWMAN

Regina Dugan's tenure at the Department of Defense's shadowy research arm is apparently over with news that Dugan is once again headed back to the private sector. Wired's Noah Shachtman reported that Dugan is taking a job with Google.

As Shachtman points out, Dugan's time at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) won her both praise and criticism. The controversy stemmed from her ties to DARPA contractor RedXDefense, the company that she founded after she left her job as a DARPA program manager in 2000. When she passed through the revolving door to rejoin Darpa in 2009, her father succeeded her as CEO of RedXDefense; her uncle is on the board of directors.

After the media reported that RedXDefense had received $1.75 million in contracts after Dugan became DARPA director, that it still owed her $250,000 and that she still had a financial stake in the company, the Project On Government Oversight asked the Pentagon's Inspector General (IG) in May to investigate the potential conflicts of interest, as well as shortcomings in DARPA's ethics policies.

Drug Busts, Hurricanes, and Torture, Oh My! 10 Key Inspector General Investigations

By DANA LIEBELSON

With the release of POGO's new Inspector General (IG) vacancy tracker, we've sparked discussion about the important role IGs play in government oversight. We've also encouraged President Obama to appoint IGs in a timely manner, and asked the Senate to consider nominees promptly.

But let’s get real—the work of federal watchdogs isn’t exactly sexy. I’d wager you could walk from one end of the National Mall to the other and not pass a single person who could identify an Inspector General by name. However, recently, IGs are behind some of the biggest headlines and savings in U.S. government. Ever heard of the numerous scandals involving Solyndra? Bernie Madoff? Hurricane Katrina? Then you’ve probably run across a case that your trusty federal IG helped shed light on. Read on to learn more about ten of these important cases.    

>> >> Click Here to See 10 Key Inspector General Investigations << <<

TORTURE	DEEPWATER	HURRICANES	PATRIOT ACT	HUMVEES
DRUGS AND OIL	BERNIE MADOFF	$6.6 BILLION	SOLYNDRA	FOOD SAFETY

 

Dana Liebelson is POGO's Beth Daley Impact Fellow.

Follow @dliebelson

White House Unveils Ethics.gov, a Step Forward for Ethics and Open Government

By DANIELLE BRIAN and BRYAN RAHIJA

The White House unveiled ethics.gov this morning--an important addition to data.gov that consolidates ethics-related filings for the federal government. 

Ethics.gov brings together the following records:  

• White House Visitor Records
• Office of Government Ethics Travel Reports
• Lobbying Disclosure Act Data
• Department of Justice Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Data
• Federal Election Commission Individual Contribution Reports
• Federal Election Commission Candidate Reports
• Federal Election Commission Committee Reports

This information has been available to the public in other digital corridors of the federal government, but until today, had not yet been brought under the same roof. This is a big deal. Being able to search all these records simultaneously marks a real step forward towards ethics transparency (imagine being able to monitor the visits to the White House, lobbying activities, AND campaign contributions of someone like Chris Dodd, the former senator and current head of Hollywood's trade association, for example). 

The public has been hearing about the President's plans for ethics.gov since the '08 campaign season. We're glad to see the administration  begin to put meat on that promise and take a proactive approach towards transparency and ethics in government. Ethics.gov has the potential to become a powerful platform that will allow the public to hold its government accountable—for now, it's an encouraging step forward. The website doesn't yet offer every document on this watchdog's wishlist, but we are chomping at the bit to see it fulfill the President's vision. 

Danielle Brian is POGO's executive director. Bryan Rahija is POGO's blog editor.

Follow @daniellebrian

Follow @bryanrahija

Image via badlyricpolice.

The Inside Scoop on the STOCK Act, Congress's Insider Trading Bill

By SUZANNE DERSHOWITZ and ANGELA CANTERBURY

At a time when the nation has become increasingly skeptical of the way Washington works, the Senate and the House have each passed ethics and anti-corruption legislation in the form of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, or STOCK Act—Senate version S.2038.ES and House version S.2038.EAH. POGO and other reform groups support this legislation.

The STOCK Act clearly prohibits Members of Congress, their staff, and executive branch employees from using nonpublic information for insider trading and makes it easier to prosecute these crimes. Specifically, both bills require officials to publicly report any transactions exceeding $1,000 in stocks, bonds, commodities, and other forms of securities within 30 days. The bills require that federal officials' public financial disclosure forms be made available online (instead of only providing paper copies upon request)—something POGO has long called for and will allow the public to keep a watchful eye.

But there are key differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. POGO supports the House bill’s coverage of a wider universe of executive federal officials. However, we strongly favor the Senate bill’s provisions on political intelligence, honest services, and illegal gratuities—provisions which POGO explicitly called for in the Act.

Politico recently reported that Senate leaders are considering taking up the House version of the bill to avoid a filibuster attempt instead of convening a House-Senate conference committee to hammer out a final bill. An open conference committee is vital to ensuring the strongest possible STOCK Act.

Here’s a closer look at the key differences between the two versions of the bill.

Obama Administration Called Out for Hypocrisy Over Whistleblower Prosecutions

By BRYAN RAHIJA

Kudos to ABC's Jake Tapper for calling out the White House on its unprecedented use of the Espionage Act to silence whistleblowers. 

In a question to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney at a press briefing earlier this week, Tapper pointed out the massive disconnect between the Obama Administration's praise of aggressive journalism abroad and its apparent proclivity for silencing truth-tellers on the home front: 

The White House keeps praising these journalists who are — who’ve been killed...How does that square with the fact that this administration has been so aggressively trying to stop aggressive journalism in the United States by using the Espionage Act to take whistleblowers to court?

You’re — currently I think that you’ve invoked it the sixth time, and before the Obama administration, it had only been used three times in history. You’re — this is the sixth time you’re suing a CIA officer for allegedly providing information in 2009 about CIA torture. Certainly that’s something that’s in the public interest of the United States. The administration is taking this person to court. There just seems to be disconnect here. You want aggressive journalism abroad; you just don’t want it in the United States.

That's right—the Obama Administration has brandished the Espionage Act in six cases to prosecute leaks of classified information to the media, compared to just three such cases in all previous administrations. This effectively equates blowing the whistle to a ninth-circle offense, putting truth tellers in the same category as the likes of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.

Carney's reply held about as much substance as a fist full of cotton candy—he said he "would hesitate to speak to any particular case, for obvious reasons," and referred Tapper to the Justice Department. 

But Tapper pressed on: "So the truth should come out abroad; it shouldn’t come out here?"

Carney's response: "Well, that’s not at all what I’m saying, Jake, and you know it’s not."

That might not be what Carney is saying, but it's certainly what the Obama Administration's actions suggest. There's really no other way to interpret the Obama Administration's over-zealous use of the Espionage Act. As the Government Accountability Project's Jesselyn Radack pointed out, in the Justice Department's (DOJ's) disastrous case against whistleblower Tom Drake, DOJ requested a harsh sentence for Drake specifically to "send a message" to the intelligence community. (The case against Drake—who is exactly the kind of whistleblower who deserves protection—ultimately went down in flames.)

It's important to remember that President Obama's Justice Department can choose which cases to pursue and how to pursue them. Thus far, it appears to have chosen to declare open season on whistleblowers, using over-the-top Espionage Act prosecutions to attack the messengers while ignoring the wrongdoing and potential crimes they're exposing. The upshot? Journalists and the American people won't be able to rely on whistleblowers for information about how their government really works. 

Bryan Rahija is POGO's Blog Editor.

Follow @bryanrahija

Camp Lejeune Cover-Up: Throw a Party, Watch a Film, Make a Difference

By DANA LIEBELSON

Have you heard the news? POGO is asking supporters to take a couple hours on Friday night to host an "action party" around the television premiere of Semper Fi: Always Faithful, an important documentary on the Marine Corps cover-up of the deadly water contamination at Camp Lejeune.

Camp Lejeune will likely go down in history as the stage of one of the worst toxic contaminations in the country—and one of the most shameful cover-ups by the Marine Corps. Between 1957 and 1987, as many as one million Marines at Camp Lejeune and their family members used and ingested water contaminated by extremely toxic organic compounds.

The documentary on this incident will be showing this Friday, February 24, on MSNBC at 10 p.m. EST. We’re encouraging you to invite friends and family over to your living room to watch the film, and then together, take action on POGO’s website. In recognition of the premiere, we have put together a web page where you can learn more, and then send two important online actions that will make a real difference.

If you simply can’t wait until Friday, you’re welcome to start taking action now. The first action you can take is to send a letter via POGO’s website to your Member of Congress, showing your support for the Janey Ensminger Act (H.R. 1742) and Caring for Camp Lejeune Veterans Act, (S. 277), which would provide healthcare and nursing services for victims of Camp Lejeune. The second action is to sign a petition that POGO will send to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, urging him to end the secrecy around Camp Lejeune and make information related to the contamination public. 

If you’re interested in connecting with the POGO community and opening your home to others interested in the film, you’re welcome to post your city and time of your party on POGO’s Facebook event page. Watch a trailer for the film below the jump.

Un-Do Influence: Air Force's Revolving Door Helped Booz Allen Hamilton Get Unfair Edge

Facepalm Ratings Guide = Stupefying example of everything that's wrong with the system. = Outrageous; shameless, even. = Worthy of rebuke. = Even if there's no conflict of interest, appearances matter.

---------------------------- Click here to join POGO's Un-Do Influence campaign.

By JOE NEWMAN

Global consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton is paying the price for playing fast and loose with federal contracting rules. But it's how Booz Allen's San Antonio operations may have obtained information from a competitor that takes our facepalm ratings to a new low.

According to a Feb. 6 Air Force memo, in April 2011, Booz Allen hired retired Air Force Lt. Col. Joselito Meneses, who had served as deputy chief in the Information Technology division of the Medical Support Agency under the Office of the Air Force Surgeon General.

On his first day of work for Booz Allen, Meneses arrived with a hard-drive containing non-public information he had obtained during his Air Force tenure.

Some of the data on the drive was proprietary information from one of Booz Allen's competitors, which the San Antonio office used to help shape its own bid to the Air Force, according to the memo.

As a result, the Booz Allen's San Antonio unit has been suspended and recommended for debarment. The company fired Meneses after a whistleblower brought the activity to the attention of company officials.

Meneses shows how the revolving door can corrupt the federal contracting system by allowing companies to get unfair, competitive advantages when they hire former government employees. The case also shows how former federal officials are motiviated to use their insider knowledge to help their new employers. Meneses knew better. He gets our maxium four-facepalm rating.

***

Rep. Grimm Faces Accusations of Improper Fundraising

We've raised questions about Rep. Michael Grimm's efforts to gut protections for financial sector whistleblowers, and how it appears the only people who would benefit from such legislation are Grimm's backers on Wall Street.

Now, Grimm (R-NY) is facing much more serious allegations of influence peddling and improper fundraising. According to a New York Times story, Grimm enlisted the help of Ofer Biton, an Israeli citizen, to help raise more than $500,000 from the followers of a New York rabbi.