FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jake Wiens, 202-347-1122

DOJ GRANT PROGRAM: CRONYISM AND FAVORITISM TAINT PROCESS
Washington, D.C. – The Project On Government Oversight is releasing a new report, “Getting Byrned by Justice: Favoritism in the Department of Justice Byrne Discretionary Grant Program.” http://www.pogo.org/p/contracts/co-080619-dojgrants.html. The report implicates the Department of Justice (DOJ) and its Office of Justice Programs (OJP) for cronyism and conflicts of interest in the awarding of federal grants.
It has previously been disclosed that another office in OJP, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), did not follow the recommendations of peer reviewers when administering their National Juvenile Justice Program Grants. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is holding a hearing on those OJJDP grants today, Thursday, June 19, 2008, 9:30 AM at 2154 Rayburn House Office Building .
POGO’s report focuses on the significantly larger FY2007 Byrne Discretionary Grant Program, which is run by OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, and has received little public scrutiny. OJP documents obtained by POGO indicate that DOJ awarded 13 Byrne Discretionary Grants without evaluating them through the peer review process, and at least two of those grants appear to involve conflicts of interest between the grantee and DOJ appointees in the offices awarding those grants. Those grants were awarded to the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services (OCJS) and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) of Ohio.
"Taxpayers should not have to worry when they pay their taxes that some appointee will treat that money like candy they can hand out to their friends,” said Danielle Brian , Executive Director of POGO. Brian added," When what should be a simple straightforward process becomes murky, we think its time to look more closely."

Full Document: http://www.pogo.org/p/contracts/co-080619-dojgrants.html


Founded in 1981, the Project On Government Oversight is an independent nonprofit which investigates and exposes corruption and other misconduct in order to achieve a more accountable federal government.
http://www.pogo.org

Whistleblower Questions Construction Safety
at Las Vegas International McCarran Airport

Part II

By Darcy Spears

June 12, 2008

Federal investigators are coming to Las Vegas to help make sure concrete at McCarran Airport is safe.

This comes just one month after Contact 13 exposed allegations by an inspector turned whistleblower who says deadlines and dollars are trumping construction safety at McCarran Airport.

Contact 13 chief investigator Darcy Spears has the exclusive follow up.

In May, Contact 13 first exposed allegations of unsafe concrete in taxiways and tarmacs at McCarran as well as test results being doctored to keep jobs on track.

Those allegations are now being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration, the US Department of Transportation and the Clark County Building Department.

"It is about time that someone takes a real hard look at this," said John Zedler.

Certified concrete inspector John Zedler says inspection reports were being altered to make failing concrete pass strength and safety tests.

Zedler worked for Western Technologies on two projects at McCarran.

When he told his bosses test results were being doctored, they asked for his field notes and fired him the next day.

"They were more scared about me having these notes and contacting people about it," explained John.

Records Action News obtained show his notes do not match the final reports Western Technologies filed with the county.

On those reports, some cases had a failing number that was scratched out and a passing one written over it.

"They are sacrificing quality and safety for a dollar and that is the bottom line," said John.

Bechtel and the Department of Aviation, who are Western Technologies' bosses on the airport site, admit some concrete was poured after failing safety tests.

But they say that does not matter because Western Technologies standard follow up tests show the concrete is structurally sound.

They would not investigate John Zedler's allegations and they would not talk to Action News on camera.

So with the FAA, the US Department of Transportation and the County Building Department all investigating John Zedler's allegations, why is the County Department Of Aviation not looking into it?

They still maintain that the concrete is structurally sound, even though they are getting their information from the very company that all those other agencies are investigating.

"I am so happy, so glad, so relieved that the other entities are involved with this," said John.

Federal investigators may be taking John's allegations more seriously because they have seen it before.

Just in the last year, runways and taxiways at Denver International Airport and the Colorado Springs Airport had to be replaced long before their life expectancy at a cost of over $60 million.

A lawsuit revealed that quality tests at the Colorado airports were being faked to mask diluted concrete.

After our story aired, Action News heard from a contractor currently working on several McCarran projects who believes Western Technologies is involved in improper quality assurance testing.

A former Western Technologies employee wrote it is part and parcel of the company's business process.

"I believe that they were going to just think that I was going walk away from it and that I was not going to go as far as I did with it. But this is something that needs to be brought to the attention of the public," said John.

The county just closed its inquiry for the time being, saying Western Technologies has substantially complied with its quality control procedures and no action will be taken at this time.

They did no independent testing of the concrete.

They say they are waiting on the FAA and DOT to see if other action is necessary.

DOT is sending an investigator to Las Vegas in July.

Under state law, The Department of Aviation has an eight year hidden defect warranty on the tarmac concrete, what they call a safety net since defects often do not show up for years.

http://www.ktnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8485284

Watch the ABC Broadcast

>>> HERE <<<

OSC Chief Scott Bloch
Made Subordinates Post
Online Rebuttals to News Stories

[ who impersonated military combat veterans ]

By Dan Friedman

June 13, 2008

Scott Bloch, the embattled head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, whose office and home federal agents raided last month, has faced a lot of bad publicity. And he evidently doesn't like it.

On many occasions since 2006, Bloch ordered a subordinate to post comments on blogs and in the "comment" sections of online news stories using a pseudonym, current and former OSC employees told CongressDaily.

The postings have defended Bloch against online articles and comments by readers that he has perceived as negative, the sources said.

"That did go on," said a former employee who has been involved in the activity. "Bloch would suggest posting things in the comments section. ... There'd be a negative article about Scott's involvement on something ... and [the] comment would be something like 'This Bloch guy is doing a good job."

Two former OSC employees have gone so far as to describe Bloch as thin-skinned and "obsessed" with his press coverage.

A federal grand jury is investigating whether Bloch obstructed justice by destroying files sought by the Office of Personnel Management's inspector general, who was looking into allegations that Bloch improperly retaliated against OSC employees for opposing his policies.

The former OSC employee familiar with the anonymous postings on Bloch's behalf was recently interviewed by FBI agents gathering evidence for the grand jury probe, but said the agents did not ask about the issue.

Roscoe Howard, an attorney representing Bloch, said Bloch would not comment due to the continuing criminal probe. An OSC spokesman said Bloch was unavailable Thursday.

The former OSC employee, who described the Web posting operation in exchange for anonymity, said such instances might have numbered in "the double digits." Bloch "would be involved in the discussion of what should be said," the employee said.

The employee suggested at least one OSC worker posted comments on the Web sites of such publications as the Washington Post, Topeka Capital-Journal, and the Lawrence Journal World. The two Kansas-based publications have written about Bloch because he is from the state.

In another instance confirmed by CongressDaily, an OSC employee who has not served in the military identified himself as "A Combat Vet" in an online response to a July 13, 2007, article on GovernmentExecutive.com. In the article, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Republicans faulted Bloch for his use of personal e-mail to discuss agency business.

The anonymous posting said news organizations were devoting too little coverage to OSC's enforcement of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which bars discrimination against people based on service in the armed services.

"Where is the coverage of USERRA?" the posting asked. "OSC helped my buddy out when he couldn't get his job back, and it doesn't seem like anybody is checking into how it helps veterans. ... Who the hell cares if Bloch sent an email about congresscritters goofing off and playing pattycake. This USERRA issue is a huge deal for us who served. Does anyone give a crap?"

At the time, public affairs officials at OSC, which enforces federal workplace rights, were urging reporters to cover USERRA enforcement cases.

During the hearing described in the article, House Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Tom Davis, citing an e-mail Bloch had sent, accused him of acting inappropriately in distributing to several people news articles about OSC investigations of federal officials.

Davis offered similar criticism Thursday.

"A public official should be accountable to the public." Davis said in a statement. "To secretly use the resources and personnel of his office -- on government time -- to comment on negative press reports is improper and deprives the public of accountability.

"If true, this could constitute an unlawful use of appropriated funds to publish covert propaganda," Davis said. "This is further evidence that Scott Bloch is unfit for his office and should resign, be fired or at least be placed on administrative leave."

Davis added that he would ask House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman "to initiate an investigation into this activity."

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0608/061308cdam1.htm

The Perilous Path of
FAA Whistleblowers

By Wade Goodwyn

June 16, 2008

This is shaping up to be the year of the whistle-blower at the Federal Aviation Administration.

So far, 32 men and women have stepped forward with concerns about safety issues — nearly triple the number for all of 2007.

The FAA has responded by implementing new systems for reporting safety issues, and it says the situation underscores that the agency has dedicated workers who put public safety first. But the agency also has been accused of looking the other way when supervisors retaliated against those who spoke out — potentially ruining a whistle-blower's career.

An Invitation to Disaster

Peter Nesbitt was a veteran controller with 17 years of experience when he transferred from Austin, Texas, to the control tower at Memphis International Airport in Tennessee. Both Northwest Airlines and FedEx use Memphis as a base of operations, and Nesbitt liked working the night shift.

But there was something that didn't sit right with him: During the times when the airport got a big push of inbound traffic, controllers were instructed to use all four runways for landing.

Nesbitt thought this was an invitation to disaster.

"When I saw the operation, I asked some of my peers and supervisors, 'Hey, what's up with this procedure, this looks kinda scary,' " Nesbitt says.

Imagine three parallel runways next to one another like rows of corn. The fourth runway at Memphis International runs across the end. If all the landings go as planned, there is no problem because the plane landing on the fourth runway is already on the ground as the other planes pass overhead on approach. But if the plane landing on the crossing runway has a problem and needs to execute what is called a "go around," then its flight path could take it directly into the flight path of the other planes.

This occasionally happens at Memphis. Last year, in fact, a Northwest Airlines DC-9 aircraft almost collided in midair with a commuter plane while Nesbitt watched from the control tower.

"I saw a twin turboprop on approach to land on runway 27 [the crossing runway]," Nesbitt says. "At the same time, there was a DC-9 on approach to the left runway. As the Saab-Fairchild approached the runway, the pilot informed the local controller that he was going around due to an unsafe gear indication."

As the jet and the commuter plane converged, the controller handling the landing began to plead with the turboprop pilot to "stay low, stay low, stay low." The Saab-Fairchild pushed the nose over and flew down the length of runway 27, says Nesbitt. At the same time, the pilot flying the DC-9 jammed his throttles forward, pulled back the stick and clawed for the sky. The commuter plane ended up flying right underneath him.

"I estimate that it was 800 feet or less," Nesbitt says. "It was the closest we had seen two airplanes come together in my career — and everyone else's, too."

Nesbitt says managers had always told the controllers at Memphis International that the airport had a special waiver from the FAA to land planes this way. When the controllers asked to see the waiver, Nesbitt says they were told it wasn't in Memphis: It was kept in Atlanta and they didn't need to worry about it. The truth was that both Memphis Airport officials and FedEx executives liked having the four runways landing planes at once during peak operations. But Nesbitt was too frightened to let it go.

"I went straight downstairs when I got a break, and I filled out a NASA aviation safety report, and submitted it to NASA that night," he says. "Then I contacted the National Transportation Safety Board, and sent them an e-mail about the runway."

From the beginning, Nesbitt worried about retaliation. And federal investigators quickly uncovered embarrassing information. Memphis International, in fact, did not have a waiver to conduct that controversial landing procedure, and the FAA ordered it stopped immediately.

But the desire to maintain the status quo was strong, and Memphis managers continued to land planes in the same operation until Nesbitt busted them to the FAA again, according to FAA documents.

The retaliation against him was quick and intense, Nesbitt says. Over the past year, managers in Memphis have decertified him for alleged performance issues.

"It's been excruciating," Nesbitt says. "It's been disturbing. I've tried to do the right thing and enhance safety, and I've paid the price."

To Be an Outcast

Nesbitt is not alone when it comes to a backlash.

Dallas-based FAA aircraft inspectors Charalambe "Bobby" Boutris and Douglas Peters blew the whistle on shoddy maintenance practices at Southwest Airlines. That led to the grounding of thousands of Southwest, American and other airlines' planes. Boutris and Peters went before the House Transportation Committee in April and gave blistering testimony about how the FAA had abandoned its own aircraft inspection protocols.

At a ceremony Wednesday in Washington, D.C., Boutris and Peters were honored by the Office of Special Counsel for their service to the country.

While accepting his public servant award, Boutris described the retaliation he encountered.

"When I came forward, the next step was to put me under investigation, take my inspector duties away, and tell me I had to stay in my cube and stare at the four walls for six months," Boutris says.

FAA officials refuse to comment specifically about the allegations of retaliation against any particular whistle-blower. But the agency has acknowledged it has a problem and says that in the past few weeks it has put in place new procedures designed to facilitate reports of unsafe conditions.

FAA spokesperson Diane Spitaliere says the agency has replaced some of the FAA managers at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport with "experienced managers from other facilities."

Anne Whiteman, a controller who was the first to go public about the problems inside the tower at DFW a decade ago, says it's no fun being an FAA whistle-blower.

"They did things blatant, they tried to run me off the road," Whiteman says. "A guy used to knock me down at work all the time. He'd walk by — if nobody was looking, he'd knock me down."

Whiteman blew the whistle on managers at DFW who were covering up incidents involving aircraft flying too close to one another. They retaliated by declaring her medically unfit for duty. While the top brass of the FAA in Washington now admits it's had an ongoing problem at DFW, Whiteman says that for her it doesn't matter, the retaliation in Dallas never stops. After 10 years, she's worn down.

"I used to say I would do it again; [now I'm] not so sure," Whiteman says, her voice shaking. "Twice now I've been removed from my job. The most recent instance, I was locked in the office. I'll never be the same 'ole Annie again. They've changed me in many ways. But I do have my pride. I do have a sense that I did the right thing, but I have a whole lot of sadness that I don't think I would have ever had."

Whiteman's account and supporting testimony by witnesses were documented by the federal government. Managers disputed the door was locked.

To be an FAA whistle-blower is to be an outcast. But the dangers they eventually report weigh heavily on their consciences. It is their fear of the soul-crushing guilt they would suffer if the worst actually were to happen — and they had done nothing to stop it.

See Original Article Here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91428378

Report:
TSA Screeners' Low Morale
May Hurt Airport Security

Kip Hawley Rips Report's 'flawed conclusions'
About Whistleblower Screeners

By Thomas Frank

June 24, 2008

Low morale among the nation's airport screeners may be compromising security and forcing screeners to quit their jobs, a controversial government report said Tuesday.

The 29-page report by Homeland Security Department Inspector General Richard Skinner is the latest to chronicle personnel problems among the nation's 48,000 airport screeners.

To view a copy of the report, Click Here.

The workforce has some of the highest turnover and injury rates in the federal government.

Unlike past workplace reports, this one says security could suffer as a result.

"Given their frustration, employees may be distracted and less focused on their security and screening responsibilities," Skinner's report says.

Transportation Security Administration chief Kip Hawley ripped Tuesday's report, saying it relies on disgruntled screeners at a few airports. "This results in flawed conclusions," Hawley wrote in a sharp, point-by-point rebuttal.

The report charges the agency with "not successfully addressing … longstanding workplace issues."

Among them are screeners' concerns that they feared retaliation for raising complaints and were discouraged by managers from meeting with an ombudsman.

The report says screeners have complained about discrimination, selective hiring, nepotism and "management misconduct" but gives no details. Skinner focuses on TSA's efforts to deal with workplace problems before screeners file formal complaints.

TSA efforts to address problems were called inadequate. The agency's programs that it set up to deal with personnel issues "may provide false hope and have the unanticipated effects of heightening employee dissatisfaction," the report says.

AJ Castilla, a screener at Boston's Logan Airport and spokesman for a screeners' union, said in an interview Tuesday that conflicts with TSA managers are taking a toll. "With low morale, you can definitely lose your focus," Castilla said.

But deputy TSA administrator Gale Rossides said that morale is "very good" and that screeners "are very much turned on" and focused on security.

The TSA recently began training all screeners in improving interaction with airline passengers and is giving them new uniforms with badges aimed at getting more respect.

"We have areas to improve upon, but we also have made great strides," Rossides said.

Hawley's written reply accuses Skinner of "bias" because his investigators interviewed screeners at only eight of the 450 commercial airports, and those airports were picked because screeners there had previously aired complaints.

Hawley also seized on what he called "unclear" conclusions, noting that the report says screeners "may" be distracted.

A Homeland Security Department employee survey released in February found mixed feelings among screeners. While 94% said their work was important, only 20% said promotions are based on merit.

Hawley, who two years ago called screening a "dead-end job," has tried to create new, skilled positions such as screeners who patrol airports to find suspicious-looking passengers.

See Original Article Here:

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-06-24-screeners_N.htm?csp=34