WhistleblowerSupporter

Defense Oversight: Failure of Mission

The Center for Public Integrity posted an article (Nick Schwellenbach) in October of 2008, which  exemplifies the ongoing problems within DoD regarding failed policies and management that have contributed if not caused massive fraud waste and abuse to continue unabated in government contracting and in defense into the present. 

I have written previously about the elements that have contributed to this sorry state of affairs, including undermining of federal field personnel in a variety of ways including withholding necessary training and information, undermining of employees ability to do their oversight jobs by withholding funds for travel and other elements necessary to do their jobs, overloading employees with overwhelming case load assignments, and burying employees in nightmare statistical requirements, and reporting in duplicate and triplicate databases. 

Oversight employees also are selected by the problem management sometimes in strange and inappropriate ways.  Some are not well prepared to step in to the oversight roles they are hired to do.   Combining that with the apparent intent that management has of keeping them barefoot and pregnant, unable to do anything about what they may or may not recognize is wrong when they do go out on inspections and the lack of ongoing appropriate levels of technical training equals a giant trainweck.  Most of this all goes on beneath the public and media radar.  When an employee insists on trying to do the  job they were hired and often took an oath to do, they are targeted and every attempt is made to destroy their career and their lives. 

If someone were deliberately scheming and planning to bring oversight to a grinding halt, it could be no better orchestrated.  At the base of all of this is a multitude of compromised or corrupted managers, revolving door participants with screwed up loyalties, quid pro quo arrangements and what may be bribery in the way of the potential of a lucrative job after govenment service, with any one of  the many defense contractors supposedly overseen by our government employees and managers. 

Link to Center for Public Integrity Article: 

http://www.publicintegrity.org/blog/entry/896/

Government Watchdog Agencies Still Impotent?

Here is an article from 2008, Center for Public Integrity which discusses whether government agencies with responsibility for oversight have been able to do their jobs.  I will note that from what I have been hearing things are not improving much.  There appears to have been a near decade-long failure of disconnected criminal investigation cases, case files languishing on people's desks that were not allowed to progress, and bad actors trying to impede oversight agencies employees, particularly field employees from doing their jobs.  If we recruited people for a whistleblower union, the list would be long.  

If the taxpayers ever learn of just how much fraud waste and abuse they have been subjected to and have had to pay for because of not only corruption in defense contractors, but also within the ranks of government agency management (appointees and career SES/GS), there would be no end of righteous indignation and calls for prosecutions.  GFS

Link to original:   http://www.publicintegrity.org/blog/entry/909/

 

 

Review: Watchdogs Undermined by Political Appointees

I am hearing from a lot of people who are dealing with the same old same old in government, particularly defense, and in the work they do in some defense contractors.  There appears to be just as much corruption, fraud, waste and abuse going on as before.  And unfortunately, there is no miraculous change in how oversight is being managed, and in the poor leadership that seems to be endemic in both government and industry as of late.  More whistleblowers are still being created and whistleblowers are still suffering retribution and every other kind of abuse for caring enough to try to stand up to wrongdoers.  I am extremely disappointed that the political change does not seem to have had a reparative effect on government and business.  I am also disappointed the many of the appointments made by our current administration, as it seems to perpetuate the problems and the poor judgment of the last administration.  GFS

 

 

 

Watchdogs Undermined by Political Appointees

Congress to Reasses Office Created to Rein in Executive Branch

By Matthew Blake 02/11/2008

Illustration by: Matt Mahurin

 

The inspectors general for 64 federal agencies are the government’s frontline against waste, fraud and abuse. It sounds like a salutary public service. But the performances and experiences of inspectors general vary alarmingly and now Congress is reassessing an office created after Watergate to rein in the executive branch.

 

 

In two weeks, the Senate will debate the Inspector General Reform Act of 2007, according to aide for Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a bill co-sponsor. Meanwhile, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform collected a survey last week from the majority of inspectors general, listing the recommendations they have made during the Bush administration that have gone unimplemented.

The Senate legislation—the House passed a Reform Act in November—would "ensure that IGs remain autonomous and operate independent of the agencies they oversee," said Beth Petite Lavine, spokeswoman for Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Ia.) a bill co-sponsor. The oversight committee is looking at what happens when the agencies allow the investigations but ignore the findings.

Both efforts are part of a sentiment expressed by Democrats and Republicans in Congress who focus on oversight as well as by analysts who study the federal bureaucracy: the White House-appointed leadership at federal agencies is undermining the watchdogs. "This is a crisis," argued Kenneth Gold, director of Georgetown University’s Government Affairs Institute, "The IG’s power has diminished."

Beverley Lumpkin, an investigator for the non-profit Project on Government Oversight, agrees. But she emphasizes it’s more than a blame-Bush situation. "Things are not much worse in the Bush administration," Lumpkin said, "It’s been a problem for 20 years. Administrations take advantage of the fact that agency heads control so much."

Advocates for inspector general reform argue that there are essentially three ways the office of inspector general has been politicized and consequently lost its bite. The first is the matter of a rogue inspector general stonewalling his own staff’s investigations. In the past year, six inspectors general have been investigated by a committee of their peers for allegations like stopping staff investigations on administration political appointees, cutting back on staff while giving themselves a raise and abusive treatment of employees.

 

The most well-known case is that of the State Department IG, Howard "Cookie" Krongard. Krongard resigned shortly after deceiving the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about knowing whether his brother was on the Blackwater advisory board. Blackwater was one of several State Department contractors Krongard had ordered his staff to stop investigating.

 

While Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice didn’t seem to mind that Krongard stopping investigations, agency heads have taken action on IG’s who started them. The CIA’s John Helgerson appears to be the latest IG to be undermined in this way. Helgerson issued scathing reports on issues like the intelligence agency failing to anticipate 9/11 and the agency’s disregard for humane interrogation practices. So the Central Intelligence Agency turned the tables last October, and started investigating Helgerson on the premise of helping him do his job better.

 

Last week with no public explanation, the CIA director, Gen. Michael Hayden, announced the appointment of an ombusdman for Helgerson. "This is especially troubling," said Brian Miller, inspector general of the General Services Administration, "because it may tend ultimately to subvert the independence of inspectors general."

 

Miller knows about going up against an agency head. GSA Administrator Lurita Doan told Miller last year that he was terrorizing employees by scrutinizing whether they were getting the best deal on the $56 billion worth of contracts purchased by GSA. Doan subsequently wrote an e-mail to GSA regional administrators stating, "Everyone now understands we have challenges with our OIG. ... This is going to require a lot of work to fix and I’m going to need your help."

"Psychologically it is extremely hard for people who take their jobs seriously and want to improve GSA to work in a climate where the agency head is openly hostile to the duties those people must perform," said David Farley, a spokesman for the GSA’s office of inspector general.

 

Doan also took the extraordinary step of reducing Miller’s budget. One key provision of the Senate legislation, according to McCaskill’s aide, is that inspectors general would be able to send their budget proposal straight to Congress and the White House. Another key provision would set up an "integrity council," independent of the White House, with the ability to discipline IG’s not aggressively investigating their agencies.

 

The legislation doesn’t tackle the third obstacle to effective IG’s, when the agency is simply looking the other way. That was the problem Clark Kent Ervin experienced as the first inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security. "This administration has tended more to ignore recommendations than to actively fight or obstruct investigations," Ervin said.

Sen. John F. Kerry may have cited Ervin’s scathing audits during the 2004 presidential campaign, but DHS ignored them. After publicly feuding with the White House, Ervin left in December 2004.

 

Still, a good deal of work by inspector generals is implemented. Roll Call newspaper reported last year that IG’s provided the government $9.9 billion in potential savings from audit recommendations and $6.8 billion in investigative recoveries. And some IG’s are neither thwarting investigations nor being thwarted. "Everyone in town agrees that Glenn Fine at the Justice Department and Earl Devaney at Interior are great," said Lumpkin, of the Project of Government Oversight.

 

Lumpkin added that the public doesn’t know about the work of a lot of other good ones because the administration is interfering with it. And this, she said, "is a problem that’s reached it’s boiling point."

Carol Haave: Round and Round and Round She Goes...Again

Carol Haave Uses Revolving Door from Government to Contractor Yet Again!

Advisory Board

Carol Haave

Ms. Carol Haave joins the Board of I³ after leaving the Department of Homeland Security as the Assistant Secretary for International Affairs. Preceding that position, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Security and Information Operations and later became the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Counterintelligence and Security.

Ms. Haave has many years of experience in security, intelligence, military operations and technology. Formerly the President of Sullivan Haave Associates, Ms. Haave successfully transitioned the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and advanced government technologies into the armed forces during military conflict. She has participated in numerous Defense Science Boards and has aided the National Defense Panel in looking at alternative futures for the Department of Defense.

History of Ideal Innovations

Ideal Innovations, Inc. (I³) is a northern Virginia based consulting firm providing cutting-edge technological, scientific, engineering and security solutions to Government and private industry.  Ideal Innovations has grown from two employees at its founding in 1998 to a current staff of over 300 employees.  I³ headquarters are based in Arlington, Virginia, along with additional personnel working throughout the northern Virginia area, West Virginia, Texas, and overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The company was established in response to the US government's urgent need for specialized, responsive technology consulting in areas directly affecting the health and safety of deployed forces and US citizens. Today, I³’s highly skilled subject matter experts quickly provide innovative solutions in the areas of biometrics, forensics, improvised explosive device (IED) defeat, advanced armor solutions, database and software engineering and training.

Link to Original Ideal Innovations site announcement:  http://www.idealinnovations.com/whoWeAre/advisoryboard.asp?id=22

Carol Haave’s new business association:  http://www.summacorp.com/

Carol Haave’s Employment and Business Ties Information:  http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/ReferencesView.aspx?PersonID=271490886

More DoD Revolving Doors and Stealth Technology

 

Nick Schwellenbach at the Center for Public  Integrity has written a very good article on the Defense Departments Revolving Doors.  His article mentions the F-15 program.  This is interesting because Boeing is currently proposing a Stealthy F-15 for sales overseas.  I wonder if our new National Security Advisor and former Boeing Audit and Finance Committees Director General (ret.) Jones, will remove himself from any and all interest in the outcome of Boeing’s proposal to sell stealth technology abroad?

DEFENSE: Warnings About Revolving Door in Pentagon from Ex-Lobbyist Official

http://www.publicintegrity.org/blog/entry/1730/

 

Another Related Link:  http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/Silent031709.xml   William Lynn, new Deputy Secretary of Defense, former Raytheon Lobbyist,  now revolving door user.  To say I am disappointed in the Obama Administration would be a rather large understatement.  -GFS

 

About F-15 and Added Stealth Technology:

Heavy Metal

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 @ 01:18PM

Boeing Proposes Stealthy F-15

Link to original Heavy Metal article:

http://www.victoriousopposition.com/index.php/site/category/heavy-metal/

 

National Security Advisor, James L. Jones: Bio - Where'd Boeing Go?

Here is General James Logan Jones’s biographical statement from around December 4,  2008.

 

General James Logan Jones Jr. (born December 19, 1943) joined the board of directors of The Boeing Company on June 21, 2007.  General (ret.) Jones serves on the company's Audit and Finance Committees.  He is also President-elect Barack Obama’s selection for National Security Advisor.  He is the former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR) (2003–06), and the commander of the United States European Command (COMUSEUCOM) (2003–06.  He served as the 32nd Commandant of the Marine Corps (July 1999–January 2003).  Jones retired from the United States Marine Corps on February 1, 2007, after 40 years of service.

 

In 2007, Jones served as chairman of the Congressional Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq, which investigated the capabilities of the Iraqi police and armed forces.  In November 2007, he was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of State as special envoy for Middle East security.

Early career- In January 1967, Jones was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps.  Upon completion of Basic, he was ordered to the Republic of Vietnam where he served as a platoon and company commander with Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines.  While overseas, he was promoted to first lieutenant in June 1968.

 

Returning to the United States in December 1968, Jones was assigned to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California where he served as a company commander until May 1970.  He then received orders to Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C. for duties as a company commander, serving in this assignment until July 1973.  While at this post (December 1970) he was promoted to captain.  From July 1973 until June 1974, he was a student at the Amphibious Warfare School, MCB Quantico, Virginia.

 

In November 1974, he received orders to report to the 3rd Marine Division in Okinawa, Japan, where he served as the commander of Company H, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines until December 1975.

 

From January 1976 to August 1979, Jones served in the Officer Assignments Section at Headquarters Marine Corps, Washington, D.C.  During this assignment, he was promoted to major in July 1977.  Remaining in Washington, his next assignment was as the Marine Corps liaison officer to the United States Senate, where he served until July 1984.  In this assignment, his first boss was John McCain, then a U.S. Navy captain.  He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in September 1982.

 

Senior staff and command- He was selected to attend the National War College in Washington, D.C. Following graduation in June 1985, he was assigned to command the 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines, 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California from July 1985 to July 1987.

In August 1987, Jones returned to Headquarters Marine Corps, where he served as senior aide to the commandant of the Marine Corps.  He was promoted to colonel in April 1988, and became the military secretary to the commandant in February 1989.  During August 1990, Jones was assigned as the commanding officer of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unity (24th MEU) at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejune, North Carolina.  During his tour with the 24th MEU, he participated in Operation Provide Comfort in Northern Iraq and Turkey.  He was advanced to brigadier general on April 23, 1992.  General Jones was assigned to duties as deputy director J-3, U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany on July 15, 1992. During this tour of duty, he was reassigned as chief of staff, Joint Task Force Provide Promise for operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Republic of Macedonia.

 

Returning to the United States, he was advanced to the rank of major general in July 1994 and was assigned as commanding general, 2nd Marine Division, Marine Forces Atlantic, MCB Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. General Jones next served as director, Expeditionary Warfare Division (N85), Office of the Chief of Naval Operations during 1996, then as the deputy chief of staff for plans, policies, and operations, Headquarters Marine Corps, Washington, D.C.  He was advanced to lieutenant general on July 18, 1996.  His next assignment was as the military assistant to the secretary of defense.

 

Commandant- On April 21, 1999, he was nominated for appointment to the grade of general and assignment as the 32nd Commandant of the Marine Corps.  He was promoted to general on June 30, 1999, and assumed the post on July 1, 1999.  He served as commandant until January 2003, turning over the reins to General Michael Hagee.

 

Among other innovations during his career as Marine Corps commandant, General Jones oversaw the Marine Corps's development of MARPAT camouflage uniforms and the adoption of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program.  These replaced the woodland uniforms and the LINE combat system respectively.

General Jones assumed duties as the commander of U.S. European Command on January 16, 2003, and supreme allied commander Europe on January 17, 2003.  He is the first Marine Corps general to serve as SACEUR/EUCOM commander.

The Marine Corps had only recently begun to take on a larger share of high-level assignments in the Department of Defense.  As of December 2006, General Jones was one of five serving Marine Corps four-star general officers who outranked the current commandant of the Marine Corps (General James T. Conway) in terms of seniority and time in grade—the others being Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace; former commandant Michael Hagee, commander of U.S. Strategic Command James E. Cartwright, and Assistant Commandant Robert Magnus.

 

As SACEUR, Jones led the Allied Command Operations (ACO), comprising NATO’s military forces in Europe from the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Mons, Belgium.  General Jones relinquished command as SACEUR on December 7, 2006, and was succeeded by U.S. Army Gen. John Craddock.

General Jones stepped down as SACEUR on December 4, 2006, and retired from the Marine Corps on February 1, 2007.

 

 

Here is General James Logan Jones’s newest version (10-27-09) of his biographical statement (minus Boeing) found here:

https://slsp.manpower.usmc.mil/gosa/biographies/rptBiography.asp?PERSON_ID=133&PERSON_TYPE=General

 

James L. Jones, National Security Advisor: Who is Sanitizing his Bio Statements?

In previous posts I have questioned Obama's appointment of former Boeing Director, James L. Jones, as his National Security Advisor.  Formerly Jones's bio statements glowingly reported his ties to the Boeing Company, his service as the Director (Board of Directors), serving on Boeing's Audit and Finance Committees. 

As more corruption involving Boeing in defense contracting becomes evident, it is interesting  that someone would be making Boeing disappear from General Jones's internet bios.   

As evidenced by numerous news reports, Boeing's troubling power and influence, and reports of unethical actions that appear to be taking place in DOD agencies, (including the Pentagon itself), related to Boeing's  influence, contracts, and relationships with Defense officials seem to be broadening in scope.  What interesting timing.  Anyone want to talk about the problems surrounding "revolving doors" now?

New Administration: Continuing Conflicts of Interest in Appointees

 

It is this sort of thing that prevents the public from really believing and real change (and cleanup of industry and government) will ever be accomplished.  -GFS

*********************************************

 

Obama adviser Summers earned millions from hedge fund

 

Link to original:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/04/AR2009040401403.html

By Roberta Rampton
Reuters
Saturday, April 4, 2009; 1:53 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawrence Summers, a top economic adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama, was paid about $5.2 million by hedge fund D.E. Shaw in the past year, financial disclosure forms released by the White House showed on Friday.

Summers, a former U.S. Treasury secretary and Harvard University president, also was paid $2.7 million in speaking fees by a range of organizations and companies, including several troubled Wall Street financial firms, they showed.

The disclosure documents on Summers and other White House officials advising Obama on the global financial crisis covered 2008 and the first few months of this year. Summers became an official adviser on January 20 when Obama took office.

Summers, who was a part-time managing director of D.E. Shaw after stepping down as Harvard president, had speaking fees of $67,500 from JP Morgan, $45,000 from Citigroup, $135,000 from Goldman Sachs and $67,500 from Lehman Brothers, which went bankrupt in the mortgage crisis last year.

He also had significant income from Harvard University and from investments, the forms showed.

As chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, Summers is a leading voice in Obama's policies to reverse the recession in the United States, rebuild the financial industry and help to end the global crisis.

The disclosure documents showed many of the senior advisers to the president earned large salaries from their companies, served in lucrative positions on corporate boards and had large holdings of stocks, bonds and mutual funds.

National Security Adviser James Jones reported collecting more than $1 million for serving as a director for Boeing, Chevron and other companies. He had a salary and bonuses of $900,000 from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Obama senior adviser David Axelrod reported $896,776 in salary from his consulting firm AKP&D Message and Media as well as $500,000 in partnership income. He had another $151,914 in partnership income from his other campaign management firm, ASK Public Strategies.

Axelrod reported he had entered an agreement to sell the firms for $3 million over five years.

Valerie Jarrett, another senior Obama adviser, reported $346,687 in directors' fees, including from the consulting firm Navigant, a real estate investment trust and the Chicago Stock Exchange.

Jarrett had $302,000 in salary from a company that develops and manages apartment buildings, plus $550,000 in deferred salary from the same firm, her disclosure form showed.

(Additional reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Eric Beech and John O'Callaghan)

Former Boeing Project Manager May Seek King County Exec Office

Former Boeing Project Manager may seek King County Exec Position

 

Fred Jarrett, former Boeing Project Manager and currently Washington State Legislator is considering running for the office of King County Executive.  He can not campaign until the Washington State Legislature sessions have ended lager this spring.  To read the whole Seattle Times story, go here: 

 

March 17, 2009 5:02 PM

“A real contest for King County executive”

 http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/edcetera/2009/03/17/a_real_contest_for_king_county.html