Inspector General for Iraq Under Investigation

[Hissyspit]

Source: Washington Post

Inspector General for Iraq Under Investigation
FBI, Congress Among Those Probing Allegations of Overspending, Mismanagement

By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 14, 2007; Page A01

Over the past four years, Inspector General Stuart W. Bowen Jr. and his staff have probed allegations of waste and fraud in the $22 billion U.S. effort to rebuild Iraq. Their work has led to arrests, indictments and millions of dollars in fines. And it has earned Bowen, who had been a legal adviser to President Bush, many admirers among both parties on Capitol Hill for his efforts to identify overspending and mismanagement.

But Bowen's office has also been roiled by allegations of its own overspending and mismanagement. Current and former employees have complained about overtime policies that allowed 10 staff members to earn more than $250,000 each last year. They have questioned the oversight of a $3.5 million book project about Iraq's reconstruction modeled after the 9/11 Commission report. And they have alleged that Bowen and his deputy have improperly snooped into their staff's e-mail messages.

The employee allegations have prompted four government probes into the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), including an investigation by the FBI and federal prosecutors into the agency's financial practices and claims of e-mail monitoring, according to law enforcement sources and SIGIR staff members. Federal prosecutors have presented evidence of alleged wrongdoing to a grand jury in Virginia, which has subpoenaed SIGIR for thousands of pages of financial documents, contracts, personnel records and correspondence, several sources familiar with the probe said.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the Presidential Council on Integrity and Efficiency, and the Army's Equal Employment Opportunity Office are also engaged in separate investigations into complaints from SIGIR staff members, according to current and former SIGIR officials and others familiar with the individual probes. The allegations range from retaliatory firing of a whistle-blower to "sustained patterns of inappropriate behavior," according to employee complaints obtained by The Washington Post.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/13/AR2007121302178.html?hpid=topnews

[lvx35]

1. What a massive goatfuck it has all been.

I saw No Country for Old Men the other night, and it introduced the word "goatfuck" into my vocabulary to descibe situations such as this. And I am grateful. :)

[maddezmom]

2. FBI probes Iraq IG on misconduct claims

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - The FBI is investigating the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, Justice Department officials said, following allegations of misconduct from former employees.

The investigation of Stuart Bowen involves possible electronic tampering, including alleged efforts by the inspector general to go through e-mails of employees in his office, said two officials close to the inquiry Thursday. It is being handled by the FBI's Washington field office, according to law enforcement officials, who like the first officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

According to one of the officials close to the investigation, the FBI is looking into several issues of possible fraud and abuse and has interviewed a number of former and current employees — some two or three times. A grand jury has been impaneled, and has issued subpoenas for documents.

The official said that in addition to the allegations involving Bowen accessing employee e-mails, the FBI is also looking into whether Bowen and his deputy, Ginger Cruz, may have inappropriately used taxpayer funds to pay their legal expenses associated with an administrative investigation that began in 2006.

In addition, the FBI probe may also review whether Bowen misled investigators about the cost of an expensive book project about the special inspector general's activities in Iraq, which is being put together by his office.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071214/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_ig_probe

[ladywnch]

3. this is good. the FBI investigates the IG and later the IG will be investigating

the FBI for something shit they're doing. In the end it will be a series of nudge, nudge, wink, wink...life goes on as usual and the treasury is a few million lighter.