" Waxman investigates whistleblower complaints against State IG"

[in_cog_ni_to]

Waxman investigates whistleblower complaints against State IG
By AMY DOOLITTLE
September 19, 2007
Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., wants State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard to explain allegations that he interfered with his staff’s investigations to protect the department and the White House.

“Current and former employees of the Office of Inspector General have contacted my staff with allegations that you interfered with ongoing investigations to protect the State Department and the White House,” Waxman wrote in a Sept. 18 letter to Krongard. “The allegations we have received are serious and deserve to be thoroughly investigated.”

The letter details allegations that congressional investigators received from whistleblowers in the three major divisions of the department’s IG office. Among the allegations:

• That Krongard censored embassy inspection reports so that critical information on security holes would not be disclosed to Congress.

• That he blocked his investigators from seizing evidence that may have implicated a large State Department contractor in procurement fraud in Afghanistan.


• That he refused to send inspectors to Iraq or Afghanistan to investigate contract waste and blocked investigators from working with the Justice Department to examine contracting waste and fraud at the new U.S. Embassy in Iraq.
Additionally, whistleblowers reported that Krongard created a hostile work environment by belittling employees, Waxman wrote.

“The officials have all described a dysfunctional office environment in which you routinely berate and belittle personnel, show contempt for the abilities of career government professionals and cause staff to fear coming to work,” Waxman wrote. “The result is an office with high personnel turnover that is presently unable to fulfill its mission because it is severely understaffed.”

Krongard in a Sept. 18 statement said that he plans to cooperate with the committee, even though the accusations and information in the letter are not true. <snip>

http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3047670

[L. Coyote]

1. Parallel: Waxman: State Investigator Blocked Corruption Probes to Support Bush

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1842357

Waxman: State Investigator Blocked Corruption Probes
By Paul Kiel - September 18, 2007
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004223.php

In a blistering 14-page letter today (pdf), House oversight committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) charged that the inspector general for the State Department Howard Krongard has been actively impeding probes into waste and corruption in Iraq and elsewhere.

[L. Coyote]

2. BROTHERS: Blackwater USA's "Buzzy" Krongard and DoS IG Howard Krongard

BROTHERS: Blackwater USA's "Buzzy" Krongard and DoS IG Howard Krongard

How convenient is this? Brother "investigating" brother as part of Bush's WAR LIES cover ups!

Blackwater vice chairman, A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard, formerly CIA's executive director " is the brother" of DoS IG Howard Krongard

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Waxman: State Investigator Blocked Corruption Probes to Support Bush
By Paul Kiel - September 18, 2007
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004223.php

In a blistering 14-page letter today (pdf), House oversight committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) charged that the inspector general for the State Department Howard Krongard has been actively impeding probes into waste and corruption in Iraq and elsewhere. The basic allegation, as Waxman simply puts it, is that "you believe your foremost mission is to support the Bush Administration, especially with respect to Iraq and Afghanistan, rather than act as an independent and objective check on waste, fraud, and abuse on behalf of U.S. taxpayers." In other words, Waxman is charging that he's a hack, and the worst kind, too -- one that can do real damage.

Waxman has a litany of examples of Krongards' alleged hackishness, but one is particularly colorful.

There have been allegations that the contractor First Kuwaiti used forced labor building the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. So Krongard looked into it.

Only he had a peculiar method, according to Waxman's investigation. First, he insisted on doing the report entirely by himself and shut out his staff. And instead of seeking out the source of the allegations, he allowed the contractor to choose the employees that he'd interview. He ultimately interviewed six employees.

The result? Krongard declared that he found no evidence of human trafficking. ..............

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Blackwater Well-Positioned to Stymie Official Inquiries, Regulation
By Spencer Ackerman - September 19, 2007, 12:10PM
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004232.php

Blackwater doesn't just operate in a legal black hole in Iraq. The private-security firm has grown expert in protecting itself from oversight and regulation in Washington as well.

Over at POGO, Nick Schwellenbach connects Blackwater to House oversight committee chairman Henry Waxman's investigation of Howard Krongard, the State Department inspector general whom Waxman alleges stifled numerous corruption probes in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of those probes involved an alleged Blackwater scheme to funnel weapons into Iraq, and, Schwellenbach notes, it wouldn't be so difficult for Blackwater to know how to get around an IG probe. Its parent company, the Prince Group, recently hired the Pentagon's ex-IG, Joseph Schmitz.

Indeed, all throughout Blackwater are ways to get around government oversight: Cofer Black, the company's vice chairman, used to work at the CIA with A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard, formerly CIA's executive director. And, yes, you read that last name correctly: Krongard of CIA is the brother of the current State Department IG. ....

[mmonk]

3. I know a whistleblower Mr. Waxman.

[goodhue]

4. blackwater kick

[goodhue]

5. !