New DoD Inspector General Cleans House

Insight Magazine ^ | 9-9-2002 | Scott L. Wheeler

[blam]

The Last Word
Posted Sept. 9, 2002
By Scott Wheeler

New DoD Inspector General Cleans House

An independent review of the Department of Defense Inspector General's Office (DoDIG) has determined that the new inspector general, Joseph E. Schmitz, inherited "serious problems" dating back four or five years, according to sources familiar with the executive summary of a report due to be released the week of Sept. 9 in response to an investigation by Insight. The DoDIG would not provide a copy of the confidential summary, but Insight has confirmed that the report contains evidence of "major problems" during the Clinton era, including "falsifying of investigative reports and falsifying audits."

The report is extremely critical of previous leadership and senior management at the DoDIG. Sources familiar with the eight-page summary, the independent review and the problems at the DoDIG tell Insight that already "several people have been fired or forced to retire as a result of the house cleaning by the new IG."

Actions taken by the new inspector general were said to have affected Robert Lieberman, the assistant inspector general in charge of the audit section who retired in August, and three others in the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), including two Senior Executive Service (SES) members and one GS-15, who were fired and escorted from the IG office at 400 Army Navy Dr. in Arlington, Va., near the Pentagon.

For the moment, DoDIG denies that any "adverse personnel action" has been taken, but an insider who asks not to be identified tells Insight that the "two SESes and the GS-15 were indeed escorted from the building last week and barred from returning."

The timing of the firings corresponded with the arrival at the office of the eight-page summary, but there are conflicting accounts of whether it was directly related to the summary or a collateral matter. A source close to the investigation describes the dismissals of the three DCIS officials as disciplinary action for their attempted retaliation against a whistle-blower at DCIS.

The new inspector general, Schmitz, ordered the "bottom-up review," which began in April and concluded in July. The independent review was conducted by Alexandria-based Military Professionals Resources Inc.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, tells Insight: "The new inspector general, Mr. Joe Schmitz, has already started to clean house. Heads have started to roll with more to come." For Grassley, the independent review is vindication. "Based on what I've heard and seen, the Independent Review Team appears to be on the right track. The team appears to see the very same problems that I see and seems to be headed toward a hard-hitting final report," Grassley tells Insight.

The previous inspector general, Eleanor J. Hill, was selected by President Bill Clinton in 1995. Hill served until 1999 and left a controversial legacy [see "Controversial Staffer Clouds 9/11 Probe," Aug. 5] that included charges by the Air Force and senior civilian-defense officials that she covered up the Clinton administration's involvement in decontrolling weapons-technology transfers to the People's Republic of China.

Grassley, a staunch critic of the IG's office under Hill's leadership, tells Insight: "My three-year oversight investigations of the Inspector General's Office has uncovered a number of serious problems, including high-level misconduct and the falsification of investigative and audit reports."

Grassley uncovered one such falsified report in the spring of 2001. It began with a failed audit dated Nov. 12, 1998 [see "Government Fails Fiscal-Fitness Test," May 20; "Wasted Riches," Oct. 22, 2001; and "Rumsfeld Inherits Financial Mess," Sept. 3, 2001]. According to a May 22, 2001, letter from Grassley to Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, that audit contained "at least 47 known deficiencies."

During a "routine peer-review" inspection of the IG's audits, the reviewers asked to see the November 1998 audit of "DoD Use of Pseudo Social Security Numbers." According to the Grassley letter, "instead of submitting it and suffering the consequences, a decision was made to destroy all the original work papers and to re-create an entirely new set." While Hill had presided over the original failed audit, the falsified audit occurred after her departure in 1999.

The Grassley letter went on to say, "Senior IG officials apparently ordered the staff to sign and backdate the new working papers as if they had been prepared at the time of the original audit." Sources familiar with the investigation of the falsified audit papers tell Insight that Assistant IG Lieberman was involved and "that is what led to his retirement." The so-called "audit work-paper falsification" led to an internal investigation by the IG's office that is pending.

The DoDIG is an independent entity with audit authority responsible for searching out waste, fraud and abuse. Schmitz is a conservative who is known to have the enthusiastic support of Rumsfeld and the entire Bush team at the Pentagon.

Scott Wheeler is a reporter for Insight magazine

[piasa]

From NY Transfer, the Havana-loyalist website of NY...

On Mar. 31, Deputy Defense Secretary John Deutch--Clinton's nominee to head the CIA--announced a sweeping investigation into the US military's activities in Guatemala from the early 1980s to the present and promised "to hold people accountable for their conduct" if wrongdoing is uncovered. The Defense Department's Guatemala Review Panel will be co-chaired by Pentagon General Counsel Judith Miller and newly appointed Inspector General Eleanor Hill; it will look into "every bit of information that we have on all Department of Defense activities," according to Deutch, including counter-narcotics operations. Cocaine transshipment through Guatemala is a serious problem, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and joint US/Guatemalan interdiction and eradication programs involve at least 200 Guatemalan Treasury Police, including air assault units. [WP 4/1/95]

[piasa]

have you run onto any info on Miami native Eleanor Hill in your research?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

No I haven't.

[csvset]

Bump.

[kcvl]

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 30, 2002—King & Spalding today applauds Washington, D.C. partner Eleanor Hill’s selection yesterday by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to serve as the Staff Director for the bicameral, bi-partisan Joint Inquiry into the events related to the September 11 terrorist attacks. The Joint Inquiry is focusing on the role of U.S. intelligence in connection with the tragic events of September 11. Open and closed hearings are expected to begin in June.


"This is a tremendous compliment to Eleanor which recognizes her talents and experience, both at King & Spalding and previously in the executive and legislative branches of the federal government," stated King & Spalding Chairman Walter Driver, Jr. "We wish Eleanor the very best in her discharge of this important public service and we look forward to following the progress of the joint inquiry as it receives national and international attention."


While at King & Spalding, Hill has been a partner in the firm’s Special Matters & Government Investigations Practice Group. Prior to joining the firm, she served as Inspector General for the Department of Defense, having been nominated by President Clinton in 1995. From 1980 through 1995, Hill was associated with the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Throughout her tenure with the Subcommittee, she served as principal advisor to former Senator Sam Nunn, former Chairman of the Subcommittee and current King & Spalding partner. From 1975 through 1980, Hill also served as a federal prosecutor, first as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and, subsequently, as a Special Attorney with the Organized Crime Section of the Department of Justice.


Hill continues King & Spalding’s tradition of public service.


Partner Larry D. Thompson was appointed in 2001 to serve as Deputy Attorney General of the U.S.


Partner Paul D. Clement was appointed in 2001 to serve as Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the U.S.


Partner William S. Duffey, Jr. was appointed in 2002 to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.


King & Spalding is a national law firm with more than 700 lawyers in Atlanta, Houston, New York and Washington, D.C. The firm represents over one-half of the Fortune 100. For each of the last ten years, King & Spalding has been ranked among the country's top 50 law firms by The American Lawyer.

[kcvl]

Eleanor Hill

[kcvl]

Testimony on Intelligence

The Associated Press


Eleanor Hill, staff director for the House and Senate intelligence inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks, discusses portions of her review, while Kirsten Breitweiser, whose husband was killed and who was testifying Wednesday as an advocate for the terror attack vicims, talks about the impact.


Eleanor Hill: No guarantee attacks were preventable (The Associated Press) Sep 18, 2002

Eleanor Hill: Intelligence community could have done better (The Associated Press) Sep 18, 2002

Eleanor Hill: Intelligence knew potential for plane attack (The Associated Press) Sep 18, 2002

Eleanor Hill: Intelligenced pointed to airplane terror plot (The Associated Press) Sep 18, 2002


http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:KnY3NkpwU-QJ:www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-terroraudio0919(0,2422940).audiogallery%3Fcoll%3Dny-nationalnews-headlines+Eleanor+Hill&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

[kcvl]

Eleanor Hill

She's changed her hair color...lol!

[kcvl]

Inquiry Reveals WTC Threat in 1998

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional hearing was told on Wednesday that three years before the Sept. 11 attacks intelligence agencies had information about a group that planned to fly an explosives-laden plane from a foreign country into the World Trade Center. The information obtained in August 1998 about the group of 'unidentified Arabs' was passed to the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration, but 'the FAA found the plot highly unlikely given the state of that foreign country's aviation program,' said Eleanor Hill, staff director of the joint Sept. 11 inquiry of the House and Senate intelligence committees.

[kcvl]

U.S. had 12 warnings of jet attacks


http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:3XtvqI8GkQMJ:www.msnbc.com/news/809484.asp%3F0si%3D-+Eleanor+Hill&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

[piasa]

OK, what did I miss in #46?

[snippy_about_it]

Attention FOX NEWS, attention.

The previous inspector general, Eleanor J. Hill, was selected by President Bill Clinton in 1995. Hill served until 1999 and left a controversial legacy [see "Controversial Staffer Clouds 9/11 Probe," Aug. 5] that included charges by the Air Force and senior civilian-defense officials that she covered up the Clinton administration's involvement in decontrolling weapons-technology transfers to the People's Republic of China.

[kcvl]

I had the WRONG picture of Eleanor Hill. lol!

[kcvl]

September 20, 2002


U.S. eyes pilot with ties to al Qaeda
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


U.S. intelligence agencies are looking for a missing Sudanese air force pilot who is said to be planning to hijack an airliner and fly it into the White House.

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020920-69517531.htm

[piasa]

Well, looks like the US just nabbed that Sudanese pilot.

[kcvl]

That's great!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the additional information!

[duckbutt]

I think this Administration has been working quietly to rid us of the Klintoon vermin that has infected government....

[duckbutt]

Great information - - this info needs to go to Rush, Sean, anyone who has access to the airwaves.....let's "smoke 'em out" as our dear President says.....