FBI Tweets
April 3rd, 2009 | Information Technology Justice | Posted by Elise Castelli
Earlier this week I wrote about how FDA was using Twitter to tweet about product recalls. But that’s not the only agency that uses Twitter to share information in a crisis.
The FBI tweets too. And is tweeting right now to let folks know that agency hostage negotiators are on their way from Albany to Binghamton, N.Y. to respond to the shooting and ongoing hostage situation there.
Tags: FBI, social media, twitter
Did Defense underreport fraud?
April 1st, 2009 | Defense Justice Procurement | Posted by Elise Castelli
The Defense Department’s reporting of fraud cases to the Justice Department dropped 76 percent during the Bush Administration, according to Justice Department data obtained by the non-profit Center for Public Integrity. During the same period, contracting at the department (and government in general) more than doubled, the report notes.
This leaves the question: did the department underreport fraud? The story suggests yes, citing concerns from the Defense Inspector General and the fact that investigative staffs shrunk alongside the decline in fraud reports.
In December, new rules went into effect requiring contractors tell on themselves or face suspension or debarment if they discover they’ve overcharged the government or committed fraud. The rules were driven by the Justice Department, which had previously expressed concerns that the Defense Department’s voluntary disclosure program wasn’t yielding the number of disclosures it had in the past.
Tags: procurement fraud
Updated: AP reports federal CIO on leave
March 12th, 2009 | Information Technology Justice | Posted by Elise Castelli
Update 2: The Associated Press is reporting that Federal CIO Vivek Kundra is on leave “until further details of the case become known” following the raid of his former office this morning.
While the raid was going on Kundra spoke at an IT conference today. He set out bold plans for reforming federal IT by opening up more information to the public for review and feedback.
During today’s White House press briefing, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs declined to comment on the investigation into Kundra’s old office.
Stay tuned.
Update 1: The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia released some court documents related to today’s raid at the District of Columbia’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer.
The documents accuse D.C. employee, Yusuf Acar of conspiring with a contractor, Sushil Bansal, to steal from city taxpayers. Both Bansal, president of Advanced Integrated Technologies Corporation, and Acar were arrested today.
According to the documents, Acar, acting chief security officer for the D.C. government, allegedly approved work orders for products and services from Bansal’s company that were in excess of what the city actually received. The difference between the actual cost to Bansal’s company and what the D.C. government paid was split by the two defendants, according to the documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Until February, the office where Acar worked was led by the new Federal Chief Information Officer, Vivek Kundra. Kundra is not mentioned in the court documents and sources said he is not under investigation.
View the original post after the jump.
Tags: chief information officer, FBI, Vivek Kundra
KBR pleads guilty on bribery charges
February 11th, 2009 | Defense Justice Procurement | Posted by Elise Castelli
Defense contractor KBR has pleaded guilty on charges it bribed Nigerian government officials to obtain contracts there. The company will pay $579 million in fines, $402 million of which are criminal penalties.
According to the Justice Department, which announced the plea deal today, KBR won $6 billion in contracts to build liquefied natural gas facilities in Nigeria between 1995 and 2004 by paying approximately $180 million in bribes to Nigerian officials.
“The successful prosecution of KBR, and its agreement to pay a more than $400 million fine, demonstrates that no one is above the law,†said Rita M. Glavin acting assistant attorney general for the criminal division.
News of the settlement comes as the company is under investigation in connection to the electrocution of soldiers in Iraq due to shoddy construction work. At least 10 soldiers, two marines and two civilians have died as a result of KBR’s electrical work there, according to my colleagues at Army Times.
Despite the accusations against KBR in the construction case and the admissions it made in the bribery case, the company has not been suspended or debarred form doing business with the government.
The Peanut Corporation of America, which allegedly covered up tests showing their products were tainted with salmonella, a move that resulted in the deaths of eight people, has been suspended from doing business with the government. It had just $4.3 million in government contracts since 2000, mostly related to school lunch programs. KBR has $5 billion in government contracts in 2008 alone, mostly related to troop support in Iraq, according to USASpending.gov.
Senate confirms Holder as Obama's AG
February 2nd, 2009 | Agencies Congress Justice | Posted by Rebecca Neal
After weeks of tough questions from Republicans, the Senate confirmed Eric Holder as attorney general this evening. The vote was 75-21.
A few Republicans took to the Senate floor before the 6:15 p.m. vote, questioning changes in Holder’s stances on counterterrorism and detaining terrorist suspects without Geneva Convention rights. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Holder once supported detaining suspects without those rights but is now strongly against the Bush administration’s counterterrorism stances.
“His contrasting positions from 2002 to 2008 make me wonder if this is the same person. It makes me wonder what he truly believes.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, Arlen Specter, R-Penn., had been one of Holder’s most vocal critics. He initially objected to the quick scheduling of Holder’s confirmation just weeks after his appointment by President Barack Obama, saying it did not leave enough time to investigate Holder’s actions while deputy attorney general to Janet Reno during the Clinton administration.
Controversies surrounding Holder included his involvement in the pardon of Marc Rich and his decision not to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate then-Vice President Al Gore’s fund-raising activities for the 1996 presidential campaign.
Specter announced last week he decided to vote for Holder after the two had a private meeting, clearing the last major hurdle for Holder’s confirmation.
Tags: Congress, Eric Holder, Justice
Specter will support Holder for AG
January 27th, 2009 | Agencies Congress Justice Transition | Posted by Rebecca Neal
Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Sen. Arlen Specter said Tuesday afternoon he’ll vote for attorney general-designate Eric Holder when the committee meets Wednesday to consider his nomination.
Specter initially objected to the quick scheduling of Holder’s confirmation just weeks after his appointment by President Barack Obama, saying it did not leave enough time to investigate Holder’s background, including his involvement in the pardon of Marc Rich and his decision not to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate then-Vice President Al Gore’s fund-raising activities for the 1996 presidential campaign.
Specter, R-Penn., said Tuesday that Holder has “excellent qualifications” and provided answers to his “very serious questions” regarding Rich and the fund-raising investigation during a private meeting last Thursday.
It is necessary to ask pointed questions of all nominees. Unlike other Cabinet officials, the attorney general does more than carry out the president’s policies. The attorney general has an independent duty to the American people to uphold the rule of law.”
Specter’s affirmative vote for Holder removes one of the major obstacles to Holder’s confirmation, and the Senate Judiciary Commitee will vote on Holder’s nomination at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Should the committee approve Holder’s nomination, as is now expected, the full Senate could vote on his confirmation later Wednesday afternoon.
Tags: attorney general, Congress, Transition
Obama names four assistant attorneys general
January 22nd, 2009 | Justice Transition | Posted by Steve Losey
President Obama has just filled four assistant attorney general slots:
- David Kris is assistant AG for national security.
- Tony West is assistant AG for the Justice Department’s civil division.
- Lanny Breuer is assistant AG for Justice’s criminal division.
- Christine Varney is assistant AG for the antitrust division.
David Kris
Kris was associate deputy attorney general from 2000 to 2003, where he supervised the government’s use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. But Kris had serious reservations about the Bush administration’s legal justifications for warrantless wiretapping of U.S. citizens and residents, and went public with his concerns three years after leaving Justice.
West is a former federal prosecutor and was special assistant attorney general for California.
Breuer is a partner at the Washington law firm Covington and Burling, where attorney general-nominee Eric Holder also served as partner. He was special counsel to President Clinton and defended Clinton during his impeachment. New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens also hired Breuer last year to represent him during Congress’ investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs in professional baseball.
Varney has served on the Federal Trade Commission and now heads the Internet practice group for the Washington law firm Hogan and Hartson.
Tags: Barack Obama, Justice, Transition
Clinton confirmed, holding on Holder
January 21st, 2009 | Justice State Transition | Posted by Gregg Carlstrom
The Senate just voted to confirm Hillary Clinton as the secretary of state. The final vote was 94-to-2: Only Sens. David Vitter, R-La., and Jim DeMint, R-S.C., voted ‘nay.’
But the Senate Judiciary committee is postponing its vote on Eric Holder’s nomination as attorney general. The Republicans on the committee apparently asked for the delay. Holder has proved controversial because of decisions he made as a deputy attorney general during the Clinton administration.
Tags: Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton
Protecting the national pastime
January 12th, 2009 | Justice | Posted by Gregg Carlstrom
Baseball may be the national pastime, but this seems a little extreme.
A new report (pdf) from the Justice Department’s inspector general found that a U.S. Marshals lawyer, Joseph Band — who was moonlighting as a statistician for FOX Sports — arranged for the Marshals to escort the limousines of FOX’s baseball announcers (Joe Buck and Tim McCarver) after two 2007 World Series games.
They then led McCarver’s limousine out of the Fenway Park area in a two-car motorcade… they had their emergency lights on as they were attempting to work their way out of the immediate area of Fenway Park. They said that McCarver’s limousine broke away at a nearby Four Seasons hotel and that Band directed them to drive him back to Fenway Park, where they dropped Band off and returned to the USMS office.
[The marshal] did not understand why Band had sent them to the game and said that he had never done a detail like this in his 23 years…
Band also arranged an escort for Buck and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman after a 2008 NFL playoff game in Tampa.
Tags: baseball, football, U.S. Marshals
The challenge of closing Guantanamo
January 6th, 2009 | Defense Homeland Security Justice | Posted by Gregg Carlstrom
President-elect Barack Obama wants to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp — but how?
The Center for American Progress, the think tank run by John Podesta, Obama’s transition co-chair, held a panel this afternoon to discuss closing Guantanamo. The panel recommended a “hybrid” approach: release the prisoners who aren’t dangerous, and try the rest in U.S. courts.
Obama hasn’t discussed how he will close the facility. But FedLine wonders how he will handle the complex logistics involved.
Tags: detainees, Guantanamo Bay