Obama is least t***sparent Pres in History
Oct 21, 2015 10:29:21 #
Amazing how little press this received last year.
Federal watchdogs complain of access woes
By Josh Gerstein
| 08/05/14 07:46 PM EDT
A group of 47 official federal agency watchdogs sent a rare joint letter to Congress on Tuesday complaining that management at some agencies has delayed or denied access to government records that the watchdogs believe they are legally entitled to see on demand.
In the letter to the bipartisan leadership of major committees across Capitol Hill, the inspectors general complain that the access issues have impeded investigations and threaten the ability of the fraud-waste-and-abuse h****rs to do their work.
"Refusing, restricting, or delaying an Inspector Generals access to documents leads to incomplete, inaccurate, or significantly delayed findings or recommendations, which in turn may prevent the agency from promptly correcting serious problems and deprive Congress of timely information regarding the agencys performance," the IGs wrote in their letter (posted here).
The watchdogs complain that some agencies, in particular the Environmental Protection Agency, the Justice Department and the Peace Corps, have given a narrow reading to the 1978 law that created the inspector general mechanism. The interpretation of those agencies has allowed management to delay or prevent access to agency records sought by IGs, the letter says.
"These restrictive readings of the IG Act represent potentially serious challenges to the authority of every Inspector General and our ability to conduct our work thoroughly, independently, and in a timely manner," the IGs wrote. "Even when we are ultimately able to resolve these issues with senior agency leadership, the process is often lengthy, delays our work, and diverts time and attention from substantive oversight activities. This plainly is not what Congress intended when it passed the IG Act."
Some of the access issues have been the subjects of congressional hearings. Officials at EPA said they were concerned that the materials the IG was seeking from the Chemical Safety Board might be attorney-client privileged, although the IGs' letter argues that privilege should not prevent another executive branch official from reviewing the records. At DOJ, officials concluded that laws dictate that certain grand jury and wiretap-related materials not be shared with the IG without case-by-case approval from department leaders. That approval was given, but DOJ's IG complained about the delay and the procedure.
At a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing in June, FBI Director James Comey said top lawyers at Justice's Office of Legal Counsel were still reviewing the issue.
"This is an issue that is a legal issue as to what we are allowed to share with respect to grand jury material and what are called Title III wiretaps ordered by a federal judge. I want to share fully and completely with [the IG], but I also don't want to violate the law," Comey said. "We've asked the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel: just tell us what we can do. And if it's OK under the law, we'll make sure we give it to them. And if it's not, we'll have to talk about whether we should change the law."
Between the IG and DOJ leaders, "there was a difference of view as to what the law permitted here," the FBI director added.
The letter was made public by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who said he was troubled by the problems the IGs were facing.
"This is an Administration that pledged to be the most t***sparent in history. Yet, these non-partisan, independent agency watchdogs say they are getting stonewalled. How are the watchdogs supposed to be able to do their jobs without agency cooperation?" Grassley asked in a statement. "Ill continue working with the committees of jurisdiction to fix the access problems, through oversight and possibly legislation.
While the signers of Tuesday's letter represent a large majority of IGs, not all the federal watchdogs signed on. At least 21 IGs appear to have passed on joining the letter. Some of those represent small agencies, and a few represent congressional branch agencies that may not face the same kinds of access issues. However, the non-signatories include several large Cabinet agencies.
The non-signers include the inspector general of the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as those of the departments of Education, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Interior and T***sportation. Also among the missing: the IGs of the Federal Communications Commission, the Small Business Administration, the Federal Reserve Bank, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.
The full list of those who did sign can be viewed here.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2014/08/federal-watchdogs-complain-of-access-woes-193481#ixzz3pDEjfLxL
Federal watchdogs complain of access woes
By Josh Gerstein
| 08/05/14 07:46 PM EDT
A group of 47 official federal agency watchdogs sent a rare joint letter to Congress on Tuesday complaining that management at some agencies has delayed or denied access to government records that the watchdogs believe they are legally entitled to see on demand.
In the letter to the bipartisan leadership of major committees across Capitol Hill, the inspectors general complain that the access issues have impeded investigations and threaten the ability of the fraud-waste-and-abuse h****rs to do their work.
"Refusing, restricting, or delaying an Inspector Generals access to documents leads to incomplete, inaccurate, or significantly delayed findings or recommendations, which in turn may prevent the agency from promptly correcting serious problems and deprive Congress of timely information regarding the agencys performance," the IGs wrote in their letter (posted here).
The watchdogs complain that some agencies, in particular the Environmental Protection Agency, the Justice Department and the Peace Corps, have given a narrow reading to the 1978 law that created the inspector general mechanism. The interpretation of those agencies has allowed management to delay or prevent access to agency records sought by IGs, the letter says.
"These restrictive readings of the IG Act represent potentially serious challenges to the authority of every Inspector General and our ability to conduct our work thoroughly, independently, and in a timely manner," the IGs wrote. "Even when we are ultimately able to resolve these issues with senior agency leadership, the process is often lengthy, delays our work, and diverts time and attention from substantive oversight activities. This plainly is not what Congress intended when it passed the IG Act."
Some of the access issues have been the subjects of congressional hearings. Officials at EPA said they were concerned that the materials the IG was seeking from the Chemical Safety Board might be attorney-client privileged, although the IGs' letter argues that privilege should not prevent another executive branch official from reviewing the records. At DOJ, officials concluded that laws dictate that certain grand jury and wiretap-related materials not be shared with the IG without case-by-case approval from department leaders. That approval was given, but DOJ's IG complained about the delay and the procedure.
At a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing in June, FBI Director James Comey said top lawyers at Justice's Office of Legal Counsel were still reviewing the issue.
"This is an issue that is a legal issue as to what we are allowed to share with respect to grand jury material and what are called Title III wiretaps ordered by a federal judge. I want to share fully and completely with [the IG], but I also don't want to violate the law," Comey said. "We've asked the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel: just tell us what we can do. And if it's OK under the law, we'll make sure we give it to them. And if it's not, we'll have to talk about whether we should change the law."
Between the IG and DOJ leaders, "there was a difference of view as to what the law permitted here," the FBI director added.
The letter was made public by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who said he was troubled by the problems the IGs were facing.
"This is an Administration that pledged to be the most t***sparent in history. Yet, these non-partisan, independent agency watchdogs say they are getting stonewalled. How are the watchdogs supposed to be able to do their jobs without agency cooperation?" Grassley asked in a statement. "Ill continue working with the committees of jurisdiction to fix the access problems, through oversight and possibly legislation.
While the signers of Tuesday's letter represent a large majority of IGs, not all the federal watchdogs signed on. At least 21 IGs appear to have passed on joining the letter. Some of those represent small agencies, and a few represent congressional branch agencies that may not face the same kinds of access issues. However, the non-signatories include several large Cabinet agencies.
The non-signers include the inspector general of the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as those of the departments of Education, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Interior and T***sportation. Also among the missing: the IGs of the Federal Communications Commission, the Small Business Administration, the Federal Reserve Bank, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.
The full list of those who did sign can be viewed here.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2014/08/federal-watchdogs-complain-of-access-woes-193481#ixzz3pDEjfLxL
Oct 21, 2015 10:36:58 #
Oct 21, 2015 10:44:52 #
Shush. Let Americans sleep. Quit bringing this up.
Now go back to sleep America !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now go back to sleep America !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VladimirPee wrote:
Amazing how little press this received last year. ... (show quote)
Oct 21, 2015 10:57:54 #
Yes, the current administration is the essence of opacity. If it were otherwise, this country would be in revolt.
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