IEC Journal

Whistleblowers in the FBI - Fedblog

Fedblog has some observations on the role of a whistleblower in recently disclosing some controversial FBI practices.

Office of Special Counsel Developments

The Office of Special Counsel has completely revamped its web site. Of special interest: the expanded list of Frequently Asked Questions about the Hatch Act.

More news: The OSC settled what is believed to be a particularly significant Hatch Act case (reported here earlier when OSC filed the complaint). The case involved a DIA supervisor's attempt to influence subordinates' votes in the 2008 Presidential election.

Finally, OSC has also filed complaints for disciplinary action against three more federal employees.  Here are links to those press releases:

http://osc.gov/documents/press/2009/pr09_13.pdf

http://osc.gov/documents/press/2009/pr09_22.pdf

http://osc.gov/documents/press/2009/pr09_24.pdf

DHS Headquarters ethics attorney vacancy (GS-14/15)

DHS OGC issued a vacancy announcement for an Attorney Advisor (Ethics). The individual selected for this position will participate in the implementation of the government-wide standards of ethical conduct program for federal employees, including the financial disclosure program, will analyze complex legal questions, and will provide advice and training to Departmental staff.

The announcement will be open through Friday, February 12th.  The link to the announcement on USAJOBS is:

 

http://jobview.usajobs.gov/GetJob.aspx?JobID=85842274&JobTitle=Attorney+Advisor+(Ethics)&brd=3876&vw=b&FedEmp=N&FedPub=Y&x=98&y=5&jbf574=HSAA&tm=5&AVSDM=2010-01-23+06%3a31%3a00

February 4th Meeting

Ethics Pledge:  At our February 4th meeting we are pleased to have as our speakers Norm Eisen, Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform; Don Fox, OGE General Counsel; and Rick Thomas, OGE Associate General Counsel, who will address the Ethics Pledge established by Executive Order 13490 and will bring us up to date on our first year under the Pledge.  If you have any questions about the Pledge that you'd like us to pass along to our speakers in advance of our meeting, please forward them to Jeff Green at: Jeffrey.Green@osd.mil, or give him a call at 703-571-9445.

As usual, we will meet from 12:15-1:30 in the OTS Auditorium, 1700 G Street, N.W., and, as always, individuals who are on the IEC roster need not pre-register for this meeting.  Agency ethics officials who are not on the roster but who wish to attend can pre-register by contacting Patrick.Carney@fcc.gov not later than Monday, February 1st.  Those who are neither on our IEC roster nor pre-registered can still be admitted by showing a Government ID to OTS Security personal upon arrival. 

MSPB case on misuse of position & violation of the Standards of Conduct

MSPB case upheld Administrative Judge decision which denied appellant corrective action for alleged Whistleblower Protection, because agency established by clear and convincing evidence that it would have reassigned her regardless of the disclosure. 

More specifically, the Inspector General found that: (1) The appellant used her public office for the gain of a private business, Checkers, Inc.; and (2) the appellant violated the Standards of Ethical Conduct by maintaining a close personal friendship with Ms. Dale Spettigue, a principal of Truckers Express, Inc. (TEI), a carrier over which the appellant was exercising the agency’s regulatory authority.

See full decision at http://www.mspb.gov/netsearch/viewdocs.aspx?docnumber=468766&version=470011&application=ACROBAT 

New DOJ Policies on Criminal Discovery

As reported on the main DOJ blog, Attorney General Holder recently issued new guidelines concerning criminal discovery.

NOTE: DOJ provides both an RSS feed and e-mail updates to make it easier to keep up with new developments.

Trends in Lobbying Profession

A Huffington Post article, Lobbying's New Frontier: 'Not Lobbying', describes a trend that could affect ethics counseling.

Former AAFES Official Took Bribes

Here is the lead of a recent DOJ press release press release:

A former Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) official was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ga., to three years in prison for his role in a bribery conspiracy involving a multi-million dollar telecommunications contract, and for not reporting the bribes he accepted on his income tax returns.

Jan. 2010 - IEC presentation materials

The below link is to the FEMA "Social Media" powerpoint presentation.   

Download IEC FEMA Social Media (Jan. 10)

Reminder: Contracting Survey Deadline January 15

Time is running short: The deadline for completing the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) online survey of federal service contracts is January 15, 2009.

NY Governor attempt to combat corruption

Paterson Seeks Overhaul to Combat Corruption

 

New York’s governor will urge expanded ethics oversight and changes in term limits and campaign funding.

 

http://s.nyt.com/u/A17

Reminder: Thursday Meeting Topic "Social Media"

Have you noticed (or are you worried about) ethical issues involving new WWW features like Facebook?The IEC meeting on Thursday, January 7 will feature Jodi Cramer and John Shea of DHS (FEMA) discussing the hot topic of “Social Media,” AKA Web 2.0.  Learn how to address the ethics, appropriations, contracts, records, privacy and other compliance issues that face a government agency in this Web 2.0 world. Meeting details are in a previous post.

HHS Annual Training 2006-9

A generous reader provided us with links to archived Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Annual Ethics Training (AET):

• 2009 (Disability Accessible Version)
• 2008
• 2007
• 2006

The 2009 version requires registration and appears to be limited to HHS employees. Requiring registration is understandable as a method of keeping track of which employees have completed the training, but there is something to be said for allowing even non-government employees to access the training. This is the approach taken by the acclaimed Department of Agriculture training program. Openness is particularly appropriate since, so far as I can see, all parts of the training would be releasable to any FOIA requester.

As we begin the new year, please remember: The IEC Journal lives or dies by reader contributions. Please continue to be generous in providing us leads on topics useful to IEC members.