Shocking incidents of corruption at the Interior Department

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From: Judicial Watch

Investigation Finds Massive Corruption at Interior Department

The federal government released a report on September 10th following a two year inspector general investigation that details shocking incidents of corruption at the Interior Department.

According to The Associated Press:

Government brokers responsible for collecting billions of dollars in federal oil royalties operated in a "culture of substance abuse and promiscuity" that included having sex with energy company employees, accepting lavish gifts and rigging contracts to favored firms, investigators said Wednesday.

The alleged transgressions involve 13 former and current Interior Department employees in Denver and Washington. Their alleged improprieties include influencing contracts, working part-time as private oil consultants and having sexual relationships with - and accepting golf and ski trips, snowboarding lessons and concert tickets from - oil company employees, according to three reports released Wednesday by the Interior Department's inspector general.

The investigation included testimony from 233 witnesses and yielded 470,000 pages of documentation. It cost taxpayers $5 million. However, experts estimate corrupt behavior by Interior officials may have deprived the federal government billions in lost revenue. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that "Congressional auditors are questioning whether the Interior Department is collecting all the royalties energy companies owe for petroleum developed on federal property."

As I said last week regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, bigger government leads to more corruption. Some key officials in the Interior Department felt they were above the law and could conduct themselves in whatever manner they saw fit. They felt safe in anonymity of the federal bureaucracy and had absolutely no fear of repercussions and no ethical sensibilities.

According to The Hill, in response to these ethical lapses, lawmakers stuck an "ethics training" provision for Interior Department officials into the energy bill just passed by Congress. This is nothing more than a smokescreen so that members of Congress can pretend they're doing something about the problem. What we really need is true accountability for lawbreakers. Throw the book at these officials and make examples of them all. Then maybe others will think twice.

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Agencys' Inspector General openness to the public now being legislated

There is often tension between government agencies and their Inspector General watchdogs who can be the bearer of bad news about those agencies. POGO (Project on Government Oversight) has been researching the effectiveness and independence of the IG’s. They’ve already found other instances where IGs have had their reports unnecessarily redacted by agencies or where the agency has simply refused to post an IG’s reports on the web.

Inspector General legislation THAT passed by a vote of 404-11 in the House, despite a Presidential veto threat, would require that all IG reports be posted on the web within three days. The Senate will likely take up corresponding legislation in the coming days.