IEC Journal

OGE Building Photo Available

In response to our request for new artwork, a generous IEC member provided a copyright-free photo he had taken of the Office of Government Ethics building. It's a great shot of 1201 New York Ave. NW from atop the IBEW building in Chinatown. Unfortunately, we are not able to use this excellent photo as the logo for this site, due to the possibility of confusion between OGE and the Interagency Ethics Council. However, we are pleased to be able to make this professional-quality photo available for downloading by IEC members who would like to use it in training materials. 

We have an idea for alternate new artwork, but in the meantime solicit other ideas or contributions. Preferably, the new artwork would fit in the existing space (150 x 219 pixels), or could be compressed or cropped to fit into the existing layout without too much image degredation.

POGO Advocates IG Reforms

Government Executive has an article discussing a Project on Government Oversight report on possible Inspector General community reforms. The Washington Post also had a story on the report. The Post story concludes on a positive note:

Despite its criticisms, POGO gives generally favorable reviews to their overall mission and culture.

"This is not a broken system, but we do think there are new ways of thinking about IGs," said POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian. "Everyone recognizes the importance of the job."

New Employee Training Checklist

Department of the Treasury ethics officials have successfully used a new employee ethics training checklist for a couple of years now. They recently modified it to accommodate the additional information that political appointees covered by the Ethics Pledge need to know. One version is slightly less-detailed regarding the Pledge information. Here are links to download the MS Word files:

• Download NE Counseling Interview Sheet

• Download NE Counseling Brief 2-09

We appreciate Treasury for sharing these checklists, and we would love to receive material from other agencies.

Penalties for improper access to Passport files of celebrities.

This former Department of State employee improperly accessed 150 confidential passport files.  As a result, he received a years probation and 100 hours of community service.  See article at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/us/24brfs-PROBATIONFOR_BRF.html?_r=1

Former VA employee pleads guilty

Former Director of VA's Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy in Hines, Ill, plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Government, in addition to wire fraud, which deprived the VA and the public of his honest services.  See full article at http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/March/09-at-263.html.

Legal Ethics and Electronic Discovery

A new law review article, E-Pitfalls: Ethics and E-Discovery posits that far from involving novel new legal issues, electronic discovery issues involve well-established principles of legal ethics. Thanks to the Federal Civil Practice Bulletin for the link.

REPOSTED: DoD SOCO Paralegal Vacancy (YA-2)(salary range $49,354 - 113,007)

Those individuals who previously applied and meet revised eligibility requirements must reapply.  See http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/getjob.asp?JobID=80049423&AVSDM=2009%2D03%2D23+00%3A03%3A01&Logo=0&jbf574=DD25&jbf565=0&FedEmp=Y&sort=sl&FedPub=Y&sorder=d&pg=1&SUBMIT1=Search+for+Jobs

Head Count

Washington Post has an online page dedicated to progress of President Obama's nominations.  See http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2009/federal-appointments/ 

NY State attorney losed job over misuse of Government resources

New York Division of Human Rights attorney lost his job over $530 in charges to a state credit card and use of his office computer for outside legal work.  See full article at http://www.abajournal.com/news/ny_lawyer_loses_144k_job_over_office_computer_credit_card_issues

FedBlog's Take on CIA Scandals

FedBlog's Alyssa Rosenberg has some thoughts on the CIA story referenced here recently:

To be clear, I think this is probably an overly harsh assessment of CIA agents as a whole. Just because your job involves deception doesn't make you a morally bankrupt human being. Taking on a cover doesn't mean you're suddenly free from moral constraints, and most people seem to understand this just fine. But the question of how to inculcate an ethical culture is still really relevant for all agencies across government. I was shocked about a year ago when I wrote a story about a report that showed high levels of ethical violations in the government. But I've come to see that perceptions of unfairness and mistrust are more prevalent than I initially assumed. So how do we get beyond that? How do we encourage people to do right by each other, and inculcate them with a sense that that behavior should be instinctive? I don't have the answer. But it's an important question to be asking.

Thursday, April 9th Meeting

Our April 9th meeting will feature Steve Epstein, who left the DoD Standards of Conduct Office two years ago and is now the Ethics and Compliance Leader for the PricewaterhouseCoopers Federal Practice.  With a presentation entitled, "Contractors in the Workplace: Things Your Employees Are Not Telling You," Steve returns to the IEC to share his surprising, humorous, and sometimes disturbing discoveries about the interaction between contractor and Federal employees in the Federal workplace.   In his new role Steve says that he's discovering things that "I didn't know that I didn't know, when I was in DoD, because the DoD employees never told me about them."  This material provides feedback about old concerns and new risks – topics for you to consider incorporating into this year's ethics training.   

As usual, we will meet from 12:15-1:30 in the OTS auditorium and, as always, individuals who are on the IEC roster need not pre-register for this meeting.  Ethics officials who are not on our roster but who wish to attend can pre-register by contacting Patrick.Carney@fcc.gov not later than Thursday, April 2nd.  Those who are neither on the IEC roster nor pre-registered can still be admitted by showing a Government ID to OTS Security personnel.

Anti-Lobbyist Rule Hits Non-Profits, Public Interest Groups

A Washington Post story examines the effect of Obama's strict ethics guidelines on public interest groups. Here's an excerpt:

Kenneth A. Gross, a lobbying law expert at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, said the rules have "demonized lobbyists, even in the public interest sector."

"The breadth of the policy definitely excludes people who they probably weren't intending to exclude," Gross said. "It's very hard to do this sort of thing with a scalpel, and there's always going to be a lot of collateral damage when you use a hammer."

One example is the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest, which no longer lives up to its name. The group filed papers terminating its registration as a lobbying group one day after Obama issued the new ethics guidelines in January. 

Perspectives on Misconduct at CIA

A Washington Post article surveying recent ethics scandals at the CIA includes a quote from a former CIA assistant general counsel to the effect that:

"You want a culture that values innovation and creativity and doesn't mind violating the laws of other countries, but at the same time, you want a culture of compliance and honesty," Radsan said. "It is a built-in contradiction."

Former CIA field agent Robert Baer added his perspectives in a recent essay in Time magazine, including the following:

"[D]on't make the mistake of giving these cases importance that they don't deserve. Or worse, don't jump to the conclusion that the CIA is overrun with misfits. CIA employees are still some of the most closely and routinely scrutinized workers in government. They endure regular and intrusive security background checks and polygraphs. Also, the CIA has a history of cleaning up its own messes. It was the CIA that caught Nicholson, as it did the notorious KGB mole Aldrich Ames." Baer concludes "This country cannot afford to turn the CIA into a Boy Scout troop."

Another plans to plead guilty in Iraq bribes case

Sister of Army Major accused of orchestrating largest bribery case out of Iraq plans on pleading guilty.  See full article at http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/Another_plea_of_guility_in_Iraq_brides_case_.html

See indictment at http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f225400/225441.htm

Washington Post Profiles White House Ethics Officer

The March 13 Washington Post has an interesting above-the-fold story about Norm Eisen, the new White House ethics advisor.

NASA Officical Indicted

An Associated Press story reports:

A former top NASA official has been indicted on charges of steering $9.6 million in agency funds to a consulting client.

The U.S. attorney's office announced a three-count indictment on Friday against Courtney Stadd of Bethesda, Md., who had served as NASA's chief of staff and White House liaison.
The indictment accuses Stadd of steering money from an earth science appropriation to Mississippi State University, which was paying him as a consultant. Stadd is also accused of lying to NASA ethics officials investigating the matter.

Update on Obama Ethics Order

The White House blog has an entry from Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform on the President's ethics Executive Order. An excerpt:

Because the rules are so stringent, it is important to have reasonable exceptions in case of exigency or when the public interest so demands.  That is why the Order provides that a waiver of the restrictions may be granted when it is determined "(i) that the literal application of the restriction is inconsistent with the purposes of the restriction, or (ii) that it is in the public interest to grant the waiver."  Sec. 3(a).  The Order goes on to explain that the "public interest" may include, but is not limited to, exigent circumstances relating to national security or to the economy and that de minimis contact with an executive agency shall also be cause for a waiver.  Sec. 3(b).   As we discuss below, this provision was intended to be used sparingly, and has been so used.

Nat'l Instit. of Aging (NIH/HHS) vacancies

(1)     ETHICS COORDINATOR, GS-301-14, Office of Administrative Management (OAM), Office of the Director (OD).  Duty station: Bethesda, MD.  Announcement # HHS/NIH-2009-1207 (open to current or former civilian federal employees).  Closing date: 3/27/2009.  HR Contact: Lauren Carroll Tedesco at (301) 594-2288.  Direct link to the announcement can be found below:

http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/getjob.asp?JobID=79811652&AVSDM=2009%2D03%2D10+00%3A03%3A01&Logo=0&q=ethics+coordinator+nia&FedEmp=Y&sort=rv&vw=d&brd=3876&ss=0&FedPub=Y&SUBMIT1.x=73&SUBMIT1.y=18

(2)     ETHICS SPECIALIST, GS-301-13, Office of Administrative Management (OAM), Office of the Director (OD).  Duty station: Bethesda, MD.  Announcement # HHS/NIH-2009-1901 (open to current or former civilian federal employees).  Closing date: 3/27/2009.  HR Contact: Lauren Carroll Tedesco at (301) 594-2288.  Direct link to the announcement can be found below:

http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/getjob.asp?JobID=79811718&AVSDM=2009%2D03%2D10+00%3A03%3A01&Logo=0&q=ethics+coordinator+nia&FedEmp=Y&sort=rv&vw=d&brd=3876&ss=0&FedPub=Y&SUBMIT1.x=73&SUBMIT1.y=18

18 months for accepting bribes

Ex-Federal employee gets 18 months for accepting kickbacks on construction contracts. 

AP article: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i0R_1OBHcBoifwmM9vcDsKIqHdOgD96O5LI80

DOJ Press release: http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/March/09-crm-194.html.

Deputy Ethics Officer, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, DHS, vancancy (GS-15)

The Office of the Principal Legal Advisor of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking an experienced ethics attorney for a supervisory position as the Deputy, ICE Ethics Office in Washington, D.C.  The ICE Ethics Office is responsible for the administration of the standards of conduct program for the agency and is also responsible for providing professional responsibility advice to over 800 agency attorneys.

http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/getjob.asp?JobID=79583546&AVSDM=2009%2D02%2D25+16%3A20%3A29&Logo=0&q=ethics&lid=17514&jbf571=10&paygrademin=15&paygrademax=15&FedEmp=N&sort=rv&vw=d&brd=3876&ss=0&FedPub=Y&SUBMIT1.x=114&SUBMIT1.y=16

March Madness Soon Upon Us

Under the ounce of prevention theory, a timely reminder of the rules against gambling in federal offices could be in order.

The Federal Register provision on gambling provides:

"What is the policy concerning gambling?"

(a) Except for the vending or exchange of chances by licensed blind operators of vending facilities for any lottery set forth in a State law and authorized by section 2(a)(5) of the Randolph-Sheppard Act (20 U.S.C. 107 et seq. ), all persons entering in or on Federal property are prohibited from—

(1) Participating in games for money or other personal property;
(2) Operating gambling devices;
(3) Conducting a lottery or pool; or
(4) Selling or purchasing numbers tickets.

(b) This provision is not intended to prohibit prize drawings for personal property at otherwise permitted functions on Federal property, provided that the game or drawing does not constitute gambling per se. Gambling per se means a game of chance where the participant risks something of value for the chance to gain or win a prize.

Edited March 5 to correct typos.

Lawyers Claim Contractor Self-Reporting Rule Too Vague

Government Executive reports that private sector lawyers are complaining about the new FAR provision requiring contractors to report on fraud, bribery, conflicts of interest, false claims or improper gratuities discovered in conjunction with government contracts:

During a webinar on Tuesday, Reed Smith LLP attorneys Lorraine Campos and Steven Tibbets highlighted a list of terms that are not defined in the regulation, such as "full cooperation," "timely" and "credible evidence." While these terms have common-sense meanings, their legal definitions are vague, the attorneys said. For example, full cooperation includes providing timely and complete responses to government auditor or investigator requests for documents and access to employees with information, but a comprehensive definition is not provided. The original draft of the rule required contractors to report violations when they had "reasonable grounds to believe" one had been committed. During the rule-making process that language was changed to mandate disclosure if there was "credible evidence" of a violation. But the final rule did not define credible evidence, leaving legal advisers to assume the change indicated regulators were willing to let contractors investigate allegations before reporting them to inspectors general.

Edited March 5 to correct typo.

Contractors Get Work Despite Debarment

GAO reports that some contractors continue to get government contracts despite being suspended or debarred. A Government Executive story notes:

[S]ome lawmakers noted the [excluded parties] database suffers from fundamental flaws, such as missing corporate identification numbers, an inadequate search function, obsolete contact information and an incompatibility with other government procurement databases. "The egregious examples of contracting failures found by GAO not only led to waste but endangered lives," said Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the committee's ranking member. "Recommendations for fixing mistakes, including better training and technology, need to be implemented."

IEC March 5th Presentation

Attached please find the slide presentation from the March 5, 2009, IEC meeting.  Download GSA Travel Presentation (Mar 09).

Controversy Over IGs & Stimulus Bill

The Washington Post reports on a controversy over a provision in the Recovery Act. Some Inspectors General are complaining that a provision in the Recovery Act that allows an oversight board to request IGs to stop particular investigations is susceptible to abuse. Others see no problem, as the bill provides that the IG retains the power to make the final decision, subject only to the requirement that they explain to Congress their reasons for rejecting the request.

Edited March 5 to correct typo.

OCS: Call for Global Warming Protests Not Hatch Act Violation

FOXNews quotes OSC's response to calls to discipline a NASA scientist who called for public protests over global warming:

Officials at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which investigates possible Hatch Act violations, disagreed, saying Hansen is in the clear since it's an "issue-oriented activity," according to Hatch Unit attorney Erica Stern Hamrick. The majority of federal government employees are allowed to take an active part in political activities, while workers at other departments like the FBI, Secret Service and National Security Council are subject to more restrictions on their political activities.