by Damozel | Did you know that George W. Bush is still president? It's true. And his administration isn't about to let us go without more and skeevier scandals. They'll keep on scandalizing us till the end!
George Bush's Department of the Interior, like so much else under his administration, is apparently rife with corruption. The Inspector General of the Department, Earl E. Devaney says so. (NYT) And it's quite the scandal. "“A culture of ethical failure” pervades the agency, Mr. Devaney wrote in a cover memo." (NYT) That will do nicely for the documentary miniseries on the Bush years that someone somewhere is planning. Or, as Deb Cupples put it:
When Bush Administration staffers aren't burning the midnight oil, scouring lists of incompetent people to reward with federal appointments (e.g., former FEMA head Michael Brown), they're diligently endeavoring to put people in key positions who will protect big corporate interests without the heavy burden of guilt over betraying the public that pays their salaries. (BN-Politics)
Or, as Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-NY and the chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, awesomely expressed it:
"The Bush administration put an 'America for Sale' sign on the White House lawn from day one and has been courting Big Oil ever since... This administration is literally in bed with Big Oil. Little did we know they were such a cheap date."(CNN; emphasis added)
The current report "portray[s] a dysfunctional organization that has been riddled with conflicts of interest, unprofessional behavior and a free-for-all atmosphere for much of the Bush administration’s watch."(NYT) Or, as one report framed it, it was "a fraternity house atmosphere."(Brattleboro Reformer)
But I knew some of that already. Back in April of this year, Deb explained how officials from the Minerals Management Service---which I shall call the Ministry of Minerals Mismanagement--- managed to bilk taxpayers out of royalties owed to the US government by certain oil companies.
[The officials] not only failed to stay on the oil companies' backs for those royalty payments, but also some officials reportedly outright blocked auditors' attempts to collect the payments. (Bn-Politics)
But though failure to do its job of lessening the taxpayers' burden is a big part of the Mineral Managers' mismanagement, the report reveals serious ethical lapses by these public officials. The investigation was initiated following reports by a whistleblower in 2006.(NYT)
The alleged transgressions involve 13 former and current Interior Department employees in Denver and Washington. (Brattleboro Reformer)
You know, after reading more closely, I take back what I said earlier. This scandal shouldn't be made into a documentary series. It should be turned over to the BBC, which has turned out many enthralling fictionalized accounts of corruption in government, and made into a mini-series. And I'm not the only one who had this reaction:
House Natural Resources Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., said "this whole IG report reads like a script from a television miniseries and one that cannot air during family viewing time. It is no wonder that the office was doing such a lousy job of overseeing the RIK program; clearly the employees had 'other' priorities in that office."(Brattleboro Reformer)
These fine civil servants from the Ministry of Minerals Mismanagement are reported to have engaged in the following unethical and improper conduct (at least one denies the allegations):
- Conflicts of interest, graft, self-dealing---as when one high-ranking official of the Ministry of Minerals Mismanagement violated rules designed to ensure competitive procurement by steering a contract to a former aide, friend, and former special assistant, who started a consulting company designed to do the same job he had at the agency; in consequence of which he has pleaded guilty to a felony conflict-of-interest charge (for which he now faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine). In addition, the program director used his position to procure another job with a firm for whom he was also doing official business. More here.... (NYT) Another employee steered contracts to his client and used government resources while working on that client's behalf.(Brattleboro Reformer)
- Acceptance of gifts---on the part of some, "with prodigious frequency"---above and beyond those which ethics rules permit, including some very pricey vacations and other perks, including "golf, ski and paintball outings; meals and drinks; and tickets to a Toby Keith concert, a Houston Texans football game and a Colorado Rockies baseball game."(NYT) The limit for such gifts is $20 per gift or $50 per year.(Brattleboro Reformer) In other words, and for all practical purposes, and in the interest of protecting your interests and mine: no gifts. "In the case of two marketers, gifts were accepted on at least 135 occasions." (Brattleboro Reformer)
- "[A] culture of substance abuse and promiscuity" in the agency's royalty-in-kind program, staffed by no doubt "loyal Bushies" who behaved like oil industry plutocrats to whom government ethics rules did not apply. This culture was characterized by:
- [C]onsumption of alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana at industry functions and also on the part of Mr. Smith, alleged use of drugs during working hours. (NYT) Two of the Ministry Mismanagement employees were referred to by energy traders as the "MMS Chicks."(Brattleboro Reformer)
- [S]exual affairs with "oil and gas representatives" and---on the part of one official--- with subordinates. (NYT)
- "[S]exual relationships with prohibited sources cannot, by definition, be arms’ length," Devaney wrote in his cover memo. (Brattleboro Reformer) One employee ran---with permission of her superiors---a sex toy business, which she boasted earned her more than her government job. (Brattleboro Reformer)
- Think Progress has posted an invitation to these fine public servants from the oil companies. As the IG report says, it is "laden with sexual innuendo." Check it.
- Lying to investigators and encouraging subordinates also to lie.(NYT)
The report indicates that the people involved were trying to keep their special connection with certain oil industry execs quiet.
The investigation turned up e-mails in which MMS employees "preparing to attend industry events used such language as 'this trip is to be kept quiet,' or were asked to RSVP 'in private' by their supervisor," the report says.
"When we asked we these one of these employees why they needed to avoid discussing their social activities with industry, he responded with a slight chuckle, 'They might have, you know, contacted the [inspector general],' " the report says(CNN).
But of course...the, um, fraternization aspect is just gilt on the lily. It might make people pay attention, because Americans aren't interested enough in governmental processes to get the real point, expressed at Pandagon by Amanda Marcotte:
The real problem is the stream of pay-offs from oil and gas companies into the department that should be working to preserve our nation’s beauty and resources, not sell off our country for golf games, sports tickets and drunken sexual encounters.
Fun fact: one of the officials under investigation is married to a man who till recently---till he resigned---held one of the top jobs at the White House Office of Management and Budget, though he recently resigned.(NYT)
There is a bright side, according to an official not under investigation.
Randall Luthi, head of the Minerals Management Service at the Interior Department, said the public had not suffered financial losses as a result of the employees' behavior.... MMS head Luthi said only "six or seven" employees named in the report still work for the department. He vowed appropriate action by the time he leaves office in January. (CNN)
Waxman's on the case---not that he doesn't have his hands full already.
Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced late Wednesday that he would hold a hearing on the investigations next week.
The Republicans are now saying that they asked him and asked him and asked him to investigate! But he insisted on investigating the many other abuses of power in the administration and all the many other scandals.(CNN)
There's a lot more in The New York Times and Brattleboro articles.
TChris at TalkLeft snarks: "When critics talk about regulatory officials being in bed with those they regulate, the phrase is typically used metaphorically."(NYT)
Amanda Marcotte at Pandagon hopes that someone is collecting a list of all the scandals, though she's afraid that people are tired of the same old corruption scandals.
Luckily, this report has the sort of scandal in it that people never get tired of hearing about, Sex & Drugs.
Really, it’s full of win....
Some call it a boring bureaucratic job. And maybe under anyone else, it is. But under the moral scolds of the Bush administration? Coke orgy!
....As you can imagine, [the] punishment will be....nothing. See, you or I, if caught snorting cocaine off the ass of a subordinate, would be financially ruined and probably tossed in prison. But do it under the Bush administration, and it’s high-paying consulting and lobbyist gigs for the rest of your life!
Stanley at Unfogged says:
Let a hundred lube jokes, um, squirt forth...However, puns relating to "drilling" and "pumping" are probably deprecated.... [I]t's no doubt a sign of these benighted times that my first reaction is to chuckle, rather than be outraged, at what sounds like a quite serious betrayal of the public trust.
Memeorandum has more blogger reactions.
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