Climate change expert sentenced to 32 months for fraud, says lying was a 'rush'

NBC ^ | 12.18/13 | Michael Isikoff

[traderrob6]

The EPA’s highest-paid employee and a leading expert on climate change was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison Wednesday for lying to his bosses and saying he was a CIA spy working in Pakistan so he could avoid doing his real job.

John C. Beale’s crimes were “inexplicable” and “egregious," said Judge Ellen Huvelle in imposing the sentence in a Washington. D.C. federal court. Beale has also agreed to pay $1.3 million in restitution and forfeiture to the government.

Beale said he was ashamed of his lies about working for the CIA. “Why did I do this? Greed – simple greed – and I’m ashamed of that greed,” Beale told the court. He also said it was possible that he got a “rush” and a “sense of excitement" by telling people he was worked for the CIA. “It was something like an addiction,” he said.

[SeminoleCounty]

Wonder why Al Gore isn’t in jail. No one is a bigger Global Warming liar than he is

[MNnice]

Being a CIA spy is sort of like being sexy or trustworthy. If you tell people you are, you probably aren’t.

My father used to say "If a woman has to remind you that she's a lady, she probably isn't."

[kcvl]

He spent much of the time he was purportedly working for the CIA at his Northern Virginia home riding bikes, doing housework and reading books, or at a vacation house on Cape Cod. “He’s never been to Langley (the CIA’s Virginia headquarters),” said Sullivan. “The CIA has no record of him ever walking through the door.”

EPA’s excuse for itself is that its internal culture is so mission-oriented that the agency is prone to overlook potential red flags.

[GOPJ]

The whole global warming thing was a lie from the get go...

[what's up]

This tells us A) what great liars these upper echelon global warming activists are and B) how non essential they are (he took 18 months off and no one missed him?)

Funny how his global warming work is not categorized in this article...what did he do to earn his EPA money? I hope the morale at EPA is slammed because of this.

[what's up]

She is currently managing director of the Rockafeller Foundation

Wow.

[TexasCajun]

Until he retired in April after learning he was under federal investigation, Beale, an NYU grad with a masters from Princeton, was earning a salary and bonuses of $206,000 a year, making him the highest paid official at the EPA. He earned more money than the agency’s administrator, Gina McCarthy, according to agency documents.

If he hadn't retired, the EPA would more than likely still be paying him.

[TexasCajun]

Why does EPA Administrator Mr. Gina McCarthy still have her job?

[TRY ONE]

In addition to the 32 months in federal prison, why can’t they take the ‘Global Warming’ hockey stick and shove it up his kazoo?

[kcvl]

David Vitter, the ranking Republican on the Committee, posed 600 of a total 1,100 questions, to McCarthy. The Committee Republicans had demanded responses from McCarthy on five "transparency requests."

The Wyoming senator said McCarthy had failed to appropriately respond to questions about how EPA plans to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. Barrasso said his concerns stemmed from the agency's recent release of its proposed "endangerment" finding, which states that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. The finding is expected to trigger broad industry regulations if finalized.

"I have nothing personal against the nominee; I simply want to have answers to questions" about EPA's climate regulations, Barrasso said on the Senate floor.

Barrasso warned that widespread litigation would aim to force EPA to regulate entities like farms, hospitals and nursing homes, and could hurt businesses and consumers amid the economic downturn. "The economic consequences of this ticking time bomb will be devastating," Barrasso said.