August 31, 2007

Dear Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Chairman Henry Waxman and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Senators Murray and Cantwell, and Congressman Reichert

I have included below information about the activities on Marion Blakey. This is outrageous. I have included information about Marion Blakely below. Marion Blakey should be investigated and prosecuted.

The corruption exposed by Gerald Eastman and others which Ms. Blakey appears to be connected with needs to be finally examined properly and some real action taken.

The Federal Whistleblower legislation S.274 must be passed now. The House and the Senate must see that other Whistleblower reports and complaints must be supported and fully investigated and wrongdoers prosecuted as necessary.

This kind of corruption must stop.

Sincerely,
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The Revolving Door Revolves...
WASHINGTON, D.C. -

Found on http://moderateman.blogspot.com/2007/08/revolving-door-revolves.html

The Federal Aviation Administration's top official is headed for the door--Washington's revolving door, that is--to become the aerospace industry's head lobbyist.

The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) has announced that FAA Administrator Marion Blakey will become its new chief executive Nov. 12, replacing the organization's retiring CEO, John Douglass. In her new role, Blakey will be the top voice in Washington for an industry that makes commercial planes and serves as a contractor to the Pentagon. Its most prominent members include Boeing (nyse: BA - news - people ), Northrop Grumman (nyse: NOC - news - people ) and Lockheed Martin (nyse: LMT - news - people ).

A conflict of interest? Possibly. Even though this type of thing happens all the time in Washington, it's certainly a gray area. And it doesn't do much to change the public's belief that politicians and political appointees are in bed with industry.

"Essentially what these members are doing is cashing in on their public service," says Craig Holman, who follows congressional issues for the watchdog group Public Citizen. He notes that political appointees are doing the same thing. "It's because there's just so much money at stake now," he adds.

(Forbes)

To read more information on FAA/Boeing/DOT Wrongdoing and Corruption, visit: www.thelastinspector.com, and http://whistleblowersupporter.typepad.com or http://360.yahoo.com/flyover_27

The Revolving Door Revolves...
WASHINGTON, D.C. -

Found on http://moderateman.blogspot.com/2007/08/revolving-door-revolves.html

The Federal Aviation Administration's top official is headed for the door--Washington's revolving door, that is--to become the aerospace industry's head lobbyist.

The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) has announced that FAA Administrator Marion Blakey will become its new chief executive Nov. 12, replacing the organization's retiring CEO, John Douglass. In her new role, Blakey will be the top voice in Washington for an industry that makes commercial planes and serves as a contractor to the Pentagon. Its most prominent members include Boeing (nyse: BA - news - people ), Northrop Grumman (nyse: NOC - news - people ) and Lockheed Martin (nyse: LMT - news - people ).

A conflict of interest? Possibly. Even though this type of thing happens all the time in Washington, it's certainly a gray area. And it doesn't do much to change the public's belief that politicians and political appointees are in bed with industry.

"Essentially what these members are doing is cashing in on their public service," says Craig Holman, who follows congressional issues for the watchdog group Public Citizen. He notes that political appointees are doing the same thing. "It's because there's just so much money at stake now," he adds.

(Forbes)

DC Whistleblower Gets Her Job Back, Wins Settlement
Date Edited
· 08 Mar 2003
A DC whistleblower lost her job at DC Health Department for reporting nearly 200 tons of insect-infested, rat-infested, outdated food at a DC-run food warehouse servicing the DC Public Schools and area food banks. Government Accountability Project helped her file a lawsuit against DC Department of Health and she won her job back. This is a victory not only for her but for other DC government employees who get retaliated against for trying to make sure problems are not ignored and get fixed.

D.C. Health Whistle-Blower Reinstated, Wins Damages

By Arthur Santana
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 7, 2003; Page A13

A city Health Department worker who was dismissed after complaining about rotten and moldy food being served to District schoolchildren has won back her job.

Madeleine Fletcher, an epidemiologist who sued the District government in August 2001 -- a year to the month after she was ousted -- said her return to work next month will send a message that "you cannot just shoot the messenger bearing unwelcome news."

A self-described whistle-blower, Fletcher filed suit in D.C. Superior Court alleging that she lost her job after testifying at a D.C. Council hearing about conditions at the school system's central warehouse. She said she found at least 20 packets of grape jelly that had mold, as well as eight-year-old packages of macaroni, dried pinto beans, oats, rice and grits that were infested with weevils.

The school system had stockpiled nearly 200 tons of old and decaying food at the Northeast Washington warehouse, some of which was destined for food banks and some that was to be served to District children in the school lunch program, Fletcher said.

In a settlement reached Wednesday, Fletcher won one year's salary worth $52,298, $18,000 in damages and $50,000 to cover legal fees. She also will be reinstated to a 13-month term of work beginning April 21, she said. Fletcher, 48, previously worked for six years at the D.C. Department of Health as a term employee, with her job being renewed every 13 months.

"I never expected to be in this position just because I was doing my job," Fletcher said yesterday. "But I learned there is enormous pressure in government agencies to look the other way."

A Health Department spokesman said that the acting director, James A. Buford, could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for the city's law office declined to comment.

Despite outstanding job evaluations and being one of only two epidemiologists that the District had investigating outbreaks of communicable diseases, Fletcher was let go at the end of a term, four months after she testified, she said.

The lawsuit alleged that Ivan C.A. Walks, then head of the Health Department, retaliated against Fletcher for "disclosing the department's gross mismanagement." At the time, Walks said that Fletcher was terminated because of department restructuring.

"Of course they wouldn't admit to having fired me for my whistle-blower activities because that would be breaking the law," Fletcher said yesterday, adding that "there was no logical reason" to dismiss her.

Fletcher, a Yale- and Purdue-educated scientist with three advanced degrees, originally sought more than $1 million in the lawsuit on claims that included defamation by Walks, emotional distress and civil rights violations.

Her attorneys predicted that she will have a far easier time at work now that the department has significantly changed management.

"After reviewing her record, the new director is eager to bring her back," said Joanne Royce, a trial attorney at the Government Accountability Project, a Washington-based public-interest law firm that represented Fletcher.

Iraq Weapons Are a Focus of Criminal Investigations
By James Glanz and Eric Schmitt
The New York Times

Tuesday 28 August 2007

Baghdad - Several federal agencies are investigating a widening network of criminal cases involving the purchase and delivery of billions of dollars of weapons, supplies and other materiel to Iraqi and American forces, according to American officials. The officials said it amounted to the largest ring of fraud and kickbacks uncovered in the conflict here, the officials said.

The inquiry has already led to several indictments of Americans, with more expected, the officials said. One of the investigations involves a senior American officer who worked closely with Gen. David H. Petraeus in setting up the logistics operation to supply the Iraqi forces when General Petraeus was in charge of training and equipping those forces in 2004 and 2005, American officials said Monday.

There is no indication that investigators have uncovered any wrongdoing by General Petraeus, the commander of United States forces in Iraq, who through a spokesman declined comment on any legal proceedings.

This article is based on interviews with more than a dozen federal investigators, Congressional, law enforcement and military officials, and specialists in contracting and logistics, in Iraq and Washington, who have direct knowledge of the inquiries. Many spoke on condition of anonymity because there are continuing criminal investigations.

The inquiries are being pursued by the Army Criminal Investigation Command, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, among other agencies.

Over the past year, inquiries by federal oversight agencies have found serious discrepancies in military records of where thousands of weapons intended for Iraqi security forces actually ended up. None of those agencies concluded that weapons found their way to insurgents or militias.

In their public reports, those agencies did not raise the possibility of criminal wrongdoing, and General Petraeus has said that the imperative to provide weapons to Iraqi security forces was more important than maintaining impeccable records.

In an interview on Aug. 18, General Petraeus said that with ill-equipped Iraqi security forces confronting soaring violence across the country in 2004 and 2005, he made a decision not to wait for formal tracking systems to be put in place before distributing the weapons.

"We made a decision to arm guys who wanted to fight for their country," General Petraeus said.

But now, American officials said, part of the criminal investigation is focused on Lt. Col. Levonda Joey Selph, who reported directly to General Petraeus and worked closely with him in setting up the logistics operation for what were then the fledgling Iraqi security forces.

That operation moved everything from AK-47s, armored vehicles and plastic explosives to boots and Army uniforms, according to officials who were involved in it. Her former colleagues recall Colonel Selph as a courageous officer who was willing to take substantial personal risks to carry out her mission and was unfailingly loyal to General Petraeus and his directives to move quickly in setting up the logistics operation.

"She was kind of like the Pony Express of the Iraqi security forces," said Victoria Wayne, who was then deputy director of logistics for the overall Iraqi reconstruction program.

Still, Colonel Selph also ran into serious problems with a company she oversaw that failed to live up to a contract it had signed to carry out part of that logistics mission.

It is not clear exactly what Colonel Selph is being investigated for. Colonel Selph, reached by telephone twice on Monday, said she would speak to reporters later but did not answer further messages left for her.

The enormous expenditures of American and Iraqi money on the Iraq reconstruction program, at least $40 billion over all, have been criticized for reasons that go well beyond the corruption cases that have been uncovered so far. Weak oversight, poor planning and seemingly endless security problems have contributed to many of the program's failures.

The investigation into contracts for materiel to Iraqi soldiers and police officers is part of an even larger series of criminal cases. As of Aug. 23, there were a total of 73 criminal investigations related to contract fraud and abuse in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, Col. Dan Baggio, an Army spokesman said Monday. Twenty civilians and military personnel have been charged in federal court as a result of the inquiries, he said. The inquiries involve contracts valued at more than $5 billion, and Colonel Baggio said the charges so far involve more than $15 million in bribes.

Just last week, an Army major, his wife and his sister were indicted on charges that they accepted up to $9.6 million in bribes for Defense Department contracts in Iraq and Kuwait.

Investigations span the gamut from low-level officials submitting false claims for amounts less than $2,500 to more serious cases involving, conspiracy, bribery, product substitution and bid-rigging or double-billing involving large dollar amounts or more senior contracting officials, Army criminal investigators said. The investigations involve contractors, government employees, local nationals and American military personnel.

Questions about whether the American military could account for the weaponry and other equipment purchased to outfit the Iraqi security forces were raised as early as May of last year, when Senator John W. Warner, Republican of Virginia and then the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent a request to an independent federal oversight agency to investigate the matter.

But federal officials say the inquiry has moved far beyond the initial investigation of hundreds of thousands of improperly tracked assault rifles and semiautomatic pistols that grew out of Senator Warner's query. In fact, Senator Warner said in a statement to The New York Times that he was outraged when he was briefed recently on the initial findings of the investigations.

"When I was briefed on the recent developments, I felt so strongly that I asked the Secretary of the Army to brief the Armed Services Committee right away, which he did in early August," Senator Warner said in a statement.

An Army spokesman declined to comment on the briefing by the secretary of the Army, Pete Geren. In a sign of the seriousness of the scandal, the Defense Department Inspector General, Claude M. Kicklighter, will lead an 18-person team to Iraq early next month to investigate contracting practices, said Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesman.

Mr. Morrell said Mr. Kicklighter, a retired three-star Army general, would stay in Iraq indefinitely to investigate contracting abuses, and was empowered to fix problems on the spot or take action if his team identified potential criminal activity.

Congressional officials who have been briefed on the Defense Department inspector general's inquiry said Monday that one focus would be on weapons, munitions and explosives. In addition, Mr. Geren, the Army secretary, is expected to announce later this week the creation of a panel of senior contracting and logistics specialists to address any systemic problems they identify.

Senator Warner's request last May for an independent federal oversight agency to investigate the accountability of weapons and equipment given to Iraqi security forces underscored concern about the issue.

That federal agency, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, responded with a report in October 2006 that found serious discrepancies in American military records of where thousands of the weapons actually ended up. The military did not take the routine step of recording serial numbers for the weapons, the inspector general found, making it difficult to determine whether any of the weapons had ended up in the wrong hands.

In July 2007, the Government Accountability Office found even larger discrepancies, reporting that the American military "cannot fully account for about 110,000 AK-47 rifles, 90,000 pistols, 80 items of body armor, and 115,000 helmets reported as issued to Iraqi security forces as of Sept. 22, 2005."

Dear Rep. Pelosi, Speaker of the House,

I am very concerned about the growing amount of corruption the American people are having to suffer through particularly the increasing amount during this past decade. I am including a piece from a blog, which quite nicely expresses the intensity of my feelings on this subject. This piece is posted at: http://whistleblowersupporter.typepad.com

Please use your leadership to set an example of how to stand up to the wrongdoers and use our system and laws to correct the conditions, which are taking us down.

Thank you,

--------------------------------------------
Saturday August 25, 2007
Patterns of Corruption: What you can do!

O.K. So, do we not have laws to prevent a lot of the criminal and corrupt activities going on between corporate and other interests and our government? Yes, the answer is yes. We do have laws. Laws (and policies) that prohibit certain activities, that are or may even appear to be, corrupt, or a conflict of interest. For example, the revolving door between government and industry is a continuing problem, and using it is prohibited, however, rarely it seems is anyone enforcing the law or policies regarding this. [Employees who move from positions of authority back and forth between related branches of government and say, contractors or defense contractors, (usually for personal gain, or to manipulate gain for their corporation, financial or other), not always acting in the best interest of the American government and public are said to be using the revolving door.]

Is it a bad idea to accept gifts or bribes, or pay-offs for services rendered? Especially when you are a policy maker, policy implementer or a federal employee in an oversight agency? Yes, it is a bad idea, and it is corrupt, corrupt, corrupt. There are laws and policies against that type of unethical activity; if those with the authority to act, would act in accordance with the letter and intent of the law, we wouldn't be where we are now. Where we are now is with a flood of reports of various kinds of corrupt, unethical, illegal and just plain greedy behaviors that permeate the corporate and governmental world. It has always been a problem to some degree due to human nature and a percentage of our population; it has grown exponentially in recent years.

Why is no one holding the line, enforcing the rules? Good question. We have laws, which if enforced, can take care of much of the lawbreaking right now. We have people, who are in positions of trust in the executive branch, legislative branch, and judicial branch of our federal government as well as investigations and enforcement in oversight agencies and federal criminal law enforcement oversight agencies and others, who right now as we speak, know they have the mission and responsibility to do right by our Constitution, laws, and the American people. Some of them are trying to do what is right and are paying, in many cases, heavy penalties for doing so. Others have lost sight of their civic and moral duty to serve. Still others have been lured away by the usual sirens of greed, power, need to belong, or affiliate with the wrong people, or are manipulated into passivity and silence through fear and intimidation.

And is no one outing the wrongdoers? Yes, in fact there are some responsible, loyal and authentically patriotic Americans quite concerned about the wrong they see being done by others, often higher up on the food chain within our government or within their corporation. Some do report, what they see and find as they do their jobs, taking it officially up the prescribed channels as a part of routine inspections, investigations and reports. Some, upon finding something not directly related to his/her job, go out of their way to try to find someone who cares to report it to, someone who might give a rip and do something about it. And these ethical reporters of unethical actions are most often labeled whistleblowers, or it is said they are not "team players” and their careers and lives are ruined. In case it is not clear, corrupt people doing illegal and unethical things do not like someone calling them on it and threatening their little empires.

Why do some people feel compelled to report wrongdoing when they find it? For some it is their job and they take their job seriously. For others it is necessary because of their principles. Someone once called this the choiceless choice that whistleblowers face. For the whistleblower, it is choiceless, as due to their character, they could do no less. These are the people who overcome fear and who refuse to be intimidated and silenced. These people are the heroes of our time.

The list below is from a 2004 Harper’s article. It is not a well-balanced list but shows a variety of things that have been going wrong going back a few years. I guarantee it has not gotten better since then. I have posted quite a few "historical" pieces of information on my Whistleblower blogs in order to show the continuing pattern of ugliness. Corruption isn’t new. But it sure as heck has gotten worse over the past decade. Some companies and individuals are not even trying very hard any more to do their dirty work in secret. In some environments it has come out of the closet with the wrongdoers blatantly confident they will be supported from the highest levels of the Pentagon and our government, and this has significantly changed the work environment. Is it that we can't do anything about it? No, I do not believe that. It is that few people, particularly those with authority to address the situations head-on, want to inconvenience or cause trouble to themselves for doing so, and it appears the more corrupt the layers get heading toward the top of our government, the worse it gets.

To clean up is going to take more of us paying attention, and being willing to stand up and try to do something about it. Getting Congress to pass workable whistleblower protections is one thing. This bill, S. 274, is on hold in the Senate as we speak. A version of it passed the house months ago. It is currently stuck in the Senate. Your emails and letters are needed to your Senators and others are needed to get the Oklahoma Senator to take it off hold and allow it to come to a vote. Until this law, or one like it passes both the House and Senate, so called whistleblowers, (more often ethical employees who report wrongdoing as a required part of their job description), will continue to be cannon fodder.

I believe there are many people, corporate/defense contractor employees and federal employees who know of wrongdoing, corruption, etc. There is still a tendency of some to look the other way, to be afraid to report in fear of causing trouble for themselves. Things are not getting better folks. Extinction as a behavior modification technique does not work on this type of problem. It is time to stand up and report what you know. If you cannot do it internally at your work place, or are afraid to do so, please contact organizations that help whistleblowers such as POGO (Project On Government Oversight) and GAP (Government Accountability Project) among others, or if what you know is something related to what the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Chair Henry Waxman), is already investigating, email or write them. POGO will even accept anonymous reports of corruption from those of you not so courageous. Or do all of the above. Contact addresses: www.pogo.org, http://whistleblower.org., http://www.house.gov (go to committees and then to Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.)

Do not “go gentle into the good night” ducking and covering and living in fear. It only gets worse if allowed to continue; the bad actors only become bolder. And once you allow yourself to become compromised, and co-opted, you are dead in the water, and if you hold a security clearance, are now set up for blackmail later, or dismissal and loss of your clearance should you decide to try to stand up later. It is a desperate road to allow oneself to start down; resist it. Stand up and blow that whistle hard, to paraphrase whistleblower, Steven Heller.

Elections are important. Not only do the people we elect have authority (and often power) they can wield in writing and passing laws and implementing policy, they can affect the other branches of government, and as we've seen recently, even upset the balance of power, checks and balances, cut the legs off of Justice, and severely put a spin on the work of judges, and through precedents being set, even affect the interpretation and implementation of Constitutional Law now and well into our distant future. Think about what kind of world we want to leave to those that follow us; think hard.

The every day things that American citizens can do are also important. We must pay attention and read and learn as a regular habit. We cannot allow our lives and focus to be taken over in an Orwellian/Bradburyesque way with sports, and "reality" shows, and soap operas taking up our time, co-opting our minds, focus, and initiative. We must remain alert and we must be willing to speak up and speak out. We must be willing to explain, and teach, and yes, even lobby if it is necessary in order to get a problem addressed. We must be vigilant and not allow ourselves to be buried in the small things of life, which can take our attention away from the big things. We must be resolute and courageous and not listen to those who would fear monger among us, trying to keep us distracted, fearful, and passive.

It will not improve until we do. It will not take all of us. It never takes everyone. That is myth perpetuated by those that do not want us to believe we can do anything, who want to disillusion us before we even start. But it will take a significant number of us committing ourselves to trying to make a difference. And I hope we will do so, because the path already blazed and paved will continue to draw us down if we do not.

I am not a federal or corporate whistleblower myself. My experience in standing up for what is right and in advocating for others comes through my union work in the education field and seeing what has happened to a family member, a federal employee who has been labeled a whistleblower, just for ethically doing his job. But I know other federal and corporate whistleblowers and meet still more all the time, since starting collecting information and sharing information on the topic. I hear from people regularly and I have empathy for their situations and am committed to help them as I can.

I started this blog in order to find and share useful information about whistleblowers and situations, which create whistleblowers, and to encourage others to stand up and to do what is right. If you are a whistleblower, bless you. You have my highest regard. If you are experiencing things, which should lead you to be a whistleblower, please stand up for yourself and others. You will not be alone. There are many others like you who are trying to do the right thing too. And if you are a family member or friend of a person who finds themselves a whistleblower, be there for them. Help them any way you can. Please join me in supporting the countless others who are fighting for the good of all of us.

G.F. Scott
Corruption—Subject of—16 Facts
---------------------------------------------
Mar
2004 Amount earmarked by the House last December to create an indoor rain forest in Iowa : $50,000,000 Harper's Index
Source:
Iowa Environmental/Educational Project (Des Moines)
---------------------------------------------
Mar
2004 Ratio of 2004 Bush campaign donations from Merrill Lynch employees to those from Bechtel employees : 60:1 Harper's Index
Source:
Center for Responsive Politics (Washington)
---------------------------------------------
Jun
2004 Minimum U.S. spending on missile defense each year since President Reagan's 1983 "Star Wars" speech : $2,700,000,000 Harper's Index
Source:
Office of Sen. Jack Reed (Washington)
---------------------------------------------
Jun
2004 Number of the ten missile-defense components to be deployed this fall that have been field-tested as a system : 0 Harper's Index
Source:
General Accounting Office (Washington)/Council for a Livable World (Washington)
---------------------------------------------
Jun
2004 Estimated value of a painting that the Saudi ambassador has given George W. Bush for his future presidential library : $1,000,000 Harper's Index
Source:
National Archives & Records Administration (Washington)
---------------------------------------------
Jun
2004 Value of the solid-gold model of a Saudi fortress on display in his father's presidential library : $1,000,000 Harper's Index
Source:
George Bush Presidential Library and Museum (College Station, Tex.)
---------------------------------------------
Jul
2004 Amount NBC's parent company, General Electric, stands to earn from Iraq's reconstruction : $600,000,000 Harper's Index
Source:
General Electric (Fairfield, Conn.)
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Sep
2004 Minimum number of ex-senior government officials who have worked for a major U.S. defense contractor since 1997 : 176 Harper's Index
Source:
Project on Government Oversight (Washington)/Harper's research
---------------------------------------------
Sep
2004 Chance that one of them was a member of Congress who became a registered lobbyist : 1 in 4 Harper's Index
Source:
Project on Government Oversight (Washington)/Harper's research
---------------------------------------------
Oct
2004 Days a House committee postponed July hearings on antidepressants while its chair considered a pharmaceutical-lobbyist job : 50 Harper's Index
Source:
Congressman Jim Greenwood’s Office (Washington)
---------------------------------------------
Oct
2004 Number of the 5 Republicans investigating Rep. Tom DeLay on ethics charges who have taken donations from his PAC : 4 Harper's Index
Source:
Federal Election Commission (Washington)
---------------------------------------------
Dec
2004 Revenue generated by Halliburton under CEO Dick Cheney from business deals with Iraq under Saddam Hussein : $30,000,000 Harper's Index
Source:
Colum Lynch, Washington Post (N.Y.C.)
---------------------------------------------
Dec
2004 Value of the Halliburton shares owned by New York City's Fire Department Pension Fund : $3,359,095 Harper's Index
Source:
Office of the Comptroller (N.Y.C.)
---------------------------------------------
Dec
2004 Number of companies in which Tom Ridge holds stock that have a contract with the Department of Homeland Security : 7 Harper's Index
Source:
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
---------------------------------------------
Dec
2004 Ratio of U.S. arms dealers' campaign contributions made since January 2001 to Democrats to those made to Republicans : 1:2 Harper's Index
Source:
PoliticalMoneyLine (Washington)
--------------------------------------------
2005
Jan
2005 Estimated value of a diamond-and-sapphire jewelry set given to Laura Bush in 2003 by the Saudi crown prince : $95,500 Harper's Index
Source:
U.S. Department of State