Raymond Jefferson leaves Labor Department after ethics finding

[The Northerner]

A high-ranking Labor Department official appointed by President Obama to oversee a job-training program for veterans has resigned after an inspector general’s investigation found that he had violated federal procurement rules and ethics principles.

Raymond M. Jefferson, assistant secretary of the Labor Department’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, submitted his resignation on Tuesday.

Jefferson engaged in “a pattern of conduct . . . which reflects a consistent disregard of federal procurement regulations, federal ethics rules and the proper stewardship of appropriated dollars,” according to the report from the Labor Department’s inspector general.

Peter Choharis, a lawyer representing Jefferson, said on Thursday: “This report . . . relies on hearsay, has many internal inconsistencies and contradictions, and omits substantial exculpatory evidence. We look forward to rebutting the report in its entirety when we have full access to the record.”

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/raymond-jefferson-leaves-labor-department-after-ethics-finding/2011/07/28/gIQA3gdwfI_story.html