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November 30, 2009
USOGE Announcements
Thanks to Jeff Green for drawing to our attention to a couple of interesting OGE announcements:
http://www.usoge.gov/ethics_guidance/daeograms/dgr_files/2009/do09030.pdff
Kennedy Center is a quasi-Governmental agency, and as long as it is the sponsor, not someone else, Federal personnel may accept gifts.
http://www.usoge.gov/ethics_guidance/daeograms/dgr_files/2009/do09029.pdf
The most recent DOJ prosecution survey.
For fear of duplicating effort, we have gotten away from publishing pointers to most OGE announcements. We figured anyone with a serious interest in government ethics would subscribe to the OGE mailing list anyway. On the other hand, duplication may not be all bad: Sometimes it might be easier to find an OGE item archived here than at the OGE site. Contact us if you have an opinion on this either way.
Posted by IEC Team | Permalink
November 29, 2009
GAO Looks at Conflict of Interest Issue
A Government Accounting Office bid protest opinion discusses a possible conflict of interest situation. The POGO Blog discussion includes the following:
Reading the protest, it seems that any investigation should ask whether [the government official] was hired specifically to work on this proposal: a draft of the Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued in June, the [TRICARE Management Activity] employee started working for [Aetna Government Health Plans], on November 19, and the next day he started working on projects related to the proposal. "The former Chief of Staff was in fact a member of AGHP’s proposal preparation team," said the GAO. And he kept on accessing his TMA email account after he started working for AGHP.
[Emphasis in original].
Posted by IEC Team in GAO, Issues: Conflicts of Interest | Permalink
November 28, 2009
Congress Eyes Re-employment of Retired Flag Officers
Federal Times has an article on a USA Today-inspired Congressional examination of Pentago use of retired military officers:
USA Today found that many retired high-ranking officers collect pensions, work for defense firms and draw government consulting fees as senior mentors to the military services. Of the 158 retired generals and admirals identified as mentors, 80 percent had financial ties to defense contractors, including 29 who were full-time executives of defense companies. These retired officers, hired as contractors, are not subject to the ethics rules that would apply if they were brought in as part-time federal employees. They do not have to disclose, to the military or the public, their ties to defense contractors.
Posted by IEC Team | Permalink
November 27, 2009
New Rule Restricts Lobbyists from Advisory Panels
Here's an excerpt from a Washington Post article describing new White House limitations on lobbyist membership on advisory panels:Under the policy, which is being phased in over the coming months, none of the more than 13,000 lobbyists in Washington would be able to hold seats on the committees, which advise agencies on trade rules, troop levels, environmental regulations, consumer protections and thousands of other government policies.
"Some folks have developed a comfortable Beltway perch sitting on these boards while at the same time working as lobbyists to influence the government," said White House ethics counsel Norm Eisen, who disclosed the policy in a September blog posting on the White House Web site. "That is just the kind of special interest access that the president objects to."
For convenient reference, an ABA web site collected several of Mr. Eisen's posts on this topic.
Posted by IEC Team in Issues: Conflicts of Interest | Permalink
House Panel Probes Army Contract
The Washington Post reports on a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigation of Army contracting practices. The Committee Chair announced that he will use one incident to kick off a broader probe of Pentagon procurement practices:
The [immediate] investigation focuses on a technology program that Raymond ran at Fort Belvoir as part of the Communications-Electronics Command.
In 2004, Raymond attended a technology conference in Hawaii, where he met Catherine Campbell, a contractor. The two became close friends and frequently sailed and walked together, documents and interviews show. They also traveled to conferences and frequently exchanged e-mail.
Last year, after an Army lawyer questioned the relationship, an internal Army inquiry found evidence that Raymond had allegedly violated several federal contracting regulations and laws, including passing on confidential government cost estimates to Campbell, according to an Army investigative report.
In the interview with The Post, Raymond acknowledged sharing the information, but he said he did so only to help teach Campbell how the procurement system works.
Posted by IEC Team in Issues: Post Employment, Procurement | Permalink
November 26, 2009
Doing Favors for Lobbyists Leads to Trouble
A Nov. 24 Department of Justice Office of Inspector General press release gives information on a recent conflict of interest prosecution. Here's the lead:
U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle sentenced Robert E. Coughlin II, age 36, former Deputy Director of the Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), today to 30 days in a halfway house, for a conflict of interest in connection with assistance he provided to a lobbyist and law/lobbying firm in matters that were before DOJ in return for a stream of things of value such as sports and concert tickets, meals at upscale restaurants and golf.
Posted by IEC Team | Permalink
November 25, 2009
FMS Training Video Available
To see an example of an ethics training video that was produced in-house without any special equipment (aside from a digital video camera) and without any special funding, watch the Financial Management Service's premiere episode of its ethics web series. The Financial Management Service (FMS) is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury. The FMS Ethics Attorney recruited employees to write, film, and act in a web series and an ethics orientation video. Employee response to these training products has been overwhelmingly positive.The premiere episode of the web series is available for IEC members to view at the following page:
http://fms.treas.gov/occ_ethics/ethics_tngTEST.html
For more information about these training videos, please contact Jen Dickey, the FMS Ethics Attorney, at 202) 874-6680
Posted by IEC Team in GAO, Training Aids, Web Resources | Permalink
November 24, 2009
Proposed Tightening of DOD Revolving Door
Government Executive reports on a proposed rule that would limit employment of former senior DOD officials:
The regulation prohibits Defense officials who have "participated personally and substantially in an acquisition exceeding $10 million or who [have] held a key acquisition position" from accepting a job with a defense contractor without first obtaining a written opinion from an ethics counselor. The counselor will determine which, if any, activities the official can perform on behalf of the contractor for the first two years after the official leaves government.
Posted by IEC Team in Issues: Contractors in the Workplace | Permalink
November 22, 2009
Revolving Door Cartoon
Pulitzer Prize winning-cartoonist Tom Toles has a great take on revolving door issues. Consider Fair Use issues before reproducing it in instructional materials.Posted by IEC Team in Training Aids, Web Resources | Permalink
November 21, 2009
DoD Public Meeting on Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCI)
Thanks to Mark Stone and Chris Poston for alerting us to a December 8 public DoD meeting to discus the requirements of section 207 of the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 (WSARA) relating to OCI. The Federal Register has more information: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-26964.htm
Posted by IEC Team | Permalink
November 20, 2009
IGs Tackle Tough Problems
An October Federal Diary column about the annual awards ceremony for Inspectors General had some quotes from attendees that give a flavor for the type of work they do:"You're not called in for the easy problems, you're called in for the hard problems," Jeffrey Zients, White House chief performance officer and CIGIE executive chairman, told the crowd Tuesday. "You're oftentimes not the most popular person in the room, and I'm sure at times that's very lonely." Regardless, he added: "We are in a period of urgency. This is not a period of business-as-usual or incremental change."
Posted by IEC Team in Inspectors General | Permalink
November 19, 2009
POGO Addresses Contractors' Role in Inspector General Tip Intake
The Project on Government Oversight concludes that Inspectors General should not contract out the operation of IG hotlines:In short, we have come to understand that some IG offices are overburdened with tips completely unrelated to their mission and that processing those tips can distract federal employees from investigating those tips with merit — especially in an environment of limited resources. In those circumstances, we think it is appropriate to outsource some of the administrative aspects of the intake function of the hotline such as answering the phone and transcribing tips. We still maintain, however, that the prioritization of tips is an inherently governmental function that should not be performed by contractors.
Posted by IEC Team | Permalink
November 18, 2009
Treasury Holiday Newsletter
Thanks to Treasury for sharing their colorful, well-produced Ethics Newsletter Fall 2009. We love to share material like this, so forward your materials via the "Contact Us" link at left.
Edited Nov. 18 to add: The newsletter was produced in Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator for any artwork. Let us know if copies of the working files would facilitate your customizing the newsletter for your agency, and we will try to post them here.
Posted by IEC Team | Permalink
OGE Policy on Gifts of Sports Event Tickets
The impending arrival of a new NCAA basketball season may be a good time to review the Office of Government Ethics memo entitled “Valuation of Gifts of Admission to an Event in a Skybox or Private Suite” (February 7, 2007):http://www.usoge.gov/ethics_guidance/daeograms/dgr_files/2007/do07003.pdf
Thanks to Mark Stone for the reminder.
Posted by IEC Team | Permalink
November 17, 2009
Tuesday, December 1st Meeting
At our December 1st meeting Don Fox, General Counsel, Office of Government Ethics will share with us the latest word from OGE, including OGE's goals for 2010 and a discussion of the remaining transition issues. This presentation has become something of an annual tradition for IEC, and is always informative and uniformly well received. Please note that this meeting will take place on the first TUESDAY of December, a departure from our usual schedule. Please put it on your calendar – you won’t want to miss it.
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. Agency 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 Wednesday, November 25th. Those who are neither on the IEC roster nor pre-registered can still be admitted by showing a Government ID to OTS Security personnel.
As always we’re looking for possible future meeting topics. If you have an idea, please share it with us.
Posted by PJC | Permalink
FBI Agent Busted for Lodging Expense Fraud
A press release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia describes how an FBI agent came to violate the law:
According to plea documents, Shim, while on a temporary duty assignment from the FBI’s Newark, N.J. office, submitted a series of false documents to FBI Headquarters for reimbursement for claimed lodging expenses. Shim falsely represented that he was renting a room in Beltsville, Maryland from May 2008 through July 2009, when, in fact, he was
principally residing with his family in Olney, Maryland. The false documents submitted by
Shim to the FBI included two fabricated “Rental Agreements” with forged signatures of a
fictitious landlord. Through the submission of these false documents, Shim unlawfully received
$41,658.57. FBI internal controls discovered the irregularities that led to the OIG/FBI joint
investigation and, ultimately, Shim’s plea.
Posted by IEC Team in News | Permalink
More on Former NASA Official Convicted of Steering Contracts
A November 6 press release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has more information about a NASA case reported here previously:According to facts presented at trial, Stadd, who previously served as NASA Chief of Staff and White House Liaison, returned to NASA in April of 2005 as a Special Government Employee in the Office of the Administrator. At the same time, Stadd was also the president of a private consulting business, Capitol Solutions. Stadd exerted his authority as a Special Government Employee to ensure that $12 million of a $15 million Congressional “earmark” for earth science applications was spent in Mississippi, where one of his clients, Mississippi State University, was located. Mississippi State University received $9,603,428 of the “earmarked” funds from NASA. Stadd later sent an invoice to Mississippi State University for his actions on
the “earmark” allocation and also cited those actions to support a request for a pay raise from Mississippi State University. As part of his scheme, Stadd made false statements to NASA ethics officials concerning his participation in NASA matters involving Mississippi State University.
Posted by IEC Team in News | Permalink
November 16, 2009
Former DHS Chief Nominee Guilty of Lying to White House Vetters
Kerik Confesses to Cheating I.R.S. and Telling Lies - NYTimes.com.
Bernard B. Kerik, a former detective who rose to lead the New York Police Department through the 9/11 attack before his career crumbled in scandal, pleaded guilty Thursday to eight charges including tax fraud and lying to White House officials.
Posted by IEC Team in Issues: Financial Disclosure | Permalink
Ethics Advisory Service
Thanks to Wendy Pond for sharing useful information she picked up about Australian government ethics at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Beijing last month.A. The Australian Code of Conduct consists of 13 bullet points:
http://www.apsc.gov.au/conduct/index.html
B. The "Ethics Advisory Service" produces a number of training videos. As Ms. Pond notes, "Part of what makes the video and accompanying written guide interesting, is that there is not a right or wrong, definitive "answer" to the dilemma. Australia has what the international community calls a "values-based" code of conduct, which contrasts with the U.S. rules-based model." The videos are here:
http://www.apsc.gov.au/ethics/videos.html
The most recent videos are:
- Passion (disclosure of information, conflict of interest, procedural fairness) and
- A Fine Pair (workplace behaviour and respect)
Posted by IEC Team in Training Aids | Permalink
Proposed FAR Change To Address Contractor Employee Conflicts of Interest
A November 13 Federal Register notice outlines a proposal to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to address personal conflicts of interest by employees of Government contractors.
Government Executive has analysis of the proposal, including these comments:
But the burden for enforcing the rule -- written by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council, Defense Acquisition Regulations Council and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy -- is placed almost exclusively on the contractor. The company would be required to inform covered employees of their obligation to disclose and prevent "even the appearance of personal conflicts of interest." To enforce the rule, the contractor would be required each year to obtain, maintain and update financial disclosure statements from each covered employee assigned to a task under the contract. The disclosure statement would spell out all personal conflicts of interest the employee could face in impartially executing the contract, including the financial assets of the worker or their close family members. The rule stipulates a host of financial connections that must be disclosed, including salaries, consulting relationships, research funding, stocks and real estate.The deadline for comments on the proposed rule is January 12, 2010.
Posted by IEC Team in Issues: Conflicts of Interest, Issues: Contractors in the Workplace, Issues: Financial Disclosure | Permalink
November 15, 2009
Vetting Gone Wrong
Fedblog has some comments about the vetting process in the case of the recent TSA nominee:Tax errors and employer reprimands are the front line of things that show up in a background check of someone. If you miss them, something is wrong. And it's unstrategic to have this stuff leak out the way it has. It means you're setting up your own minefield, and forcing your own people to walk through it with you. I have no idea how things got to this state, but it's pretty pronounced.
Posted by IEC Team in Issues: Financial Disclosure | Permalink
High Court Considers Prosecutorial Immunity
The Supreme Court heard arguments earlier this month advocating limits on prosecutorial immunity, with some justices expressing a surprising level of hostility toward the doctrine. The respected SCOTUS Blog provides analysis.Posted by IEC Team in Legal Ethics | Permalink
November 14, 2009
EPA Complains About Employees' YouTube Video
FederalNewsRadio has a report about two Environmental Protection Agency lawyers who posted a video to YouTube discussing their views on cap-and-trade legislation:
A few days after an op-ed by the couple was published in the Washington Post, a directive to the couple was sent by the EPA, instructing them to remove the the video from YouTube and edit it to be "compliant with 5 CFR § 2635.807(b)" and that failure to do so "could lead to disciplinary action."
William Bransford, partner with Shaw, Bransford & Roth, tells FederalNewsRadio ...
I think there's a difference between just telling somebody "well I work at EPA" which is really kind of a matter of public record, versus "I work at EPA and because of my position and what I do, I believe this is a good idea," and you're speaking for yourself personally and not necessarily as a member of the EPA.The real question, said Bransford, is whether the two used their government position to push a personal issue or not. "Just mentioning that you work there," said Bransford, "I'm not sure that it rises to that level, but obviously somebody in their General Counsel's office thinks to the contrary."
A Government Executive story includes the agency's position and the Wall Street Journal's Opinion section has its assessment of the matter.
Posted by IEC Team in Issues: Misuse of Position | Permalink
November 10, 2009
Most recent USDA Ethics Newsletter - including CFC discussion.
Thanks to Mike Edwards for the most recent USDA Ethics Newsletter. These newsletters are designed to be interesting and entertaining. For example, in this issue "The Great Zamboni" answers a question about an out-of-control Combined Federal Campaign worker (Imagine that)! The newsletters are distributed online to all USDA employees and result in many positive comments from readers.
See http://www.usda-ethics.net/newsletters/newsletter_2009_02.pdf
Posted by Team 2 in Miscellaneous | Permalink
Reminder of Holiday Ethics Issues
Want to publish a warning of holiday ethics issues? Before drafting your own, check out the USDA holiday ethics reminder memo.
Posted by IEC Team in Web Resources | Permalink
November 07, 2009
IEC EPA Nov. 5 Presentation Materials
Attached are the presentation materials from the Environmental Protection Agency presentation addressing the topic of Federal employees serving on outside boards of associations and professional organizations in their official or personal capacity.
Slide Presentation: Download Professional_Associations_-_IEC_Presentation[1]
Draft EPA policy: Download Draft_EPA_Supp_Reg_for_Professional_Associations[1]
Posted by Team 2 in IEC Meetings | Permalink
November 04, 2009
Distributing Audio & Video?
Do you have audio or video ethics instruction material that would benefit others? Let us know via the "Contact Us"' link at left. We would love to distribute such materials here.
Posted by IEC Team in About | Permalink
November 03, 2009
Reminder: Meeting On Thursday
The next IEC meeting will be Thursday, Nov. 5. Guest speaker Ms. Justina Fugh, of the EPA will address share insights on the topic of Federal employees serving on outside boards of associations and professional organizations in their official or personal capacity. See Pat Carney's October 19 post for details as to location, etc.Posted by IEC Team in IEC Meetings | Permalink
November 02, 2009
Congresstional Ethics Report Leaks
WASHINGTON—The accidental leak of a congressional ethics watchdog's report offers a rare glimpse into the internal workings of one of the most secretive bodies on Capitol Hill, revealing that the panel has dealt with a far larger number of lawmakers than previously publicly disclosed. See full article at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125694460088919841.htmlPosted by Team 2 in News | Permalink
November 01, 2009
Reading IEC Journal on Your iPhone
NetNewsWire is an RSS reader that works on an iPhone. The developer provides a NetNewsWire/iPhone FAQ with Answers to frequently-asked-questions about NetNewsWire 2.0 for iPhone. Other newsreaders are available for the iPhone. Many other platforms support RSS readers as well.
