IEC Journal

Charles Rangel sues to overturn censure

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) is suing House Speaker John Boehner and six other lawmakers to overturn his censure on ethics charges, arguing that members of the House Ethics Committee withheld evidence that could’ve cleared his name.

Besides Boehner, the lawsuit in federal court in Washington also names Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), then the House Ethics Committee Chairman. At the end of the Ethics Committee’s investigation, the House voted overwhelmingly to censure Rangel.

Rangel’s lawsuit aims to overturn that censure, according to USA Today, with the lawsuit claiming the ethics investigation involved “numerous, flagrant, knowing and intentional violations” of Rangel’s right to due process, including the committee withholding a memo written by former staffers arguing the investigation was tainted by misconduct.  Had Rangel known about the memo, the lawsuit says, he would’ve immediately moved to dismiss the investigation.

OGE Issues Legal Advisory Regarding Ethics-Related Legislative Activity from the 112th Congress and Updated Compilation of Ethics Laws

The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) has issued a Legal Advisory updating relevant legislative activity from the recently ended 112th Congress, including the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 and the Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011. The Legal Advisory also discusses other ethics-related provisions of note and trends in legislative activities. For more information, please see Legal Advisory LA-13-03 dated April 4, 2013, http://www.oge.gov/OGE-Advisories/Legal-Advisories/Legal-Advisories/

In addition, OGE has published a newly updated “Compilation of Federal Ethics Laws” that includes all provisions signed into law through January 13, 2013. The compilation includes not only the laws within the jurisdiction of the ethics program, but also related statutes of interest to the Executive Branch ethics programs, such as the Hatch Act. The Compilation may be found on OGE’s website at: http://www.oge.gov/Laws-and-Regulations/Statutes/Compilation-of-Federal-Ethics-Laws/

 

Office of Congressional Ethics Needs Reauthorization to Continue

CNN reports:

The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE)  -- which gets its mandate and funding from Congress -- must be reauthorized by this Congress, which soon adjourns, or early on by the new Congress. What's more, at least four of the OCE's board members are approaching the end of their terms, and new members must be selected and appointed for the organization to continue with its work.

No investigations or reports can be done by the office until their board is in place.

The OCE was formed four years ago when then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and others declared they wanted to "drain the swamp" of scandals and corruption in Washington.  Among the biggest scandals that prompted action was that of Jack Abramoff, a former lobbyist, who admitted in 2006 to illegally showering gifts on officials in exchange for favors.

Ken Boehm, chairman of the conservative National Legal and Policy Center, commented that if the OCE is not reauthorized and new board members are not appointed, it would "(send) the message to the public that not only is the ethics system broken, but it doesn't even exist anymore."

New U.S. v. POGO decision

US District Court for DC issued its decision on the case about whether a Dept of Interior employee who received a $383,600 monetary award by a group that the employee had assisted in bringing a successful false claims action, had violated 18 USC 209. The case was previously vacated by the Circuit Court (United States v. POGO, 616 F.3d 544 (DC Cir. 2010)).  The District Court ruled against the employee, in summary judgment, and ordered him to repay the entire amount of the award (United States of America v. Project on Government Oversight, DDC CA No. 03-0096 (JDB)--March 21, 2012).

See FedSmith discussion http://www.fedsmith.com/article/3357/former-fed-who-breached-his-fiduciary.html

See DC Dist Court decision Download 86909812-US-v-POGO[1]

President signs STOCK Act

OGE reports:

"On April 4, 2012, the President signed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 (STOCK Act) (S. 2038). The Act establishes new requirements for Executive Branch ethics programs, ethics officials, and the thousands of employees who currently file financial disclosure reports pursuant to the Ethics in Government Act. OGE fully supports the Act’s focus on improving transparency and promoting public confidence in government and is carefully analyzing the provisions of the new law. In consultation with DAEOs and other senior agency ethics officials, OGE will issue a series of Legal, Program, and Education Advisories to implement the Act’s provisions.

Questions from agency ethics officials should be directed to the OGE Team that supports your agency. Media and related inquiries should be directed to Vincent Salamone at (202) 482-9292."

See STOCK Act: Download STOCK Act

Failure to Pay Taxes A Standards of Conduct Issue

The Washington Post reports

About 98,000 federal, postal and congressional employees owed $1.03 billion in unpaid taxes at the end of fiscal 2010, according to records provided by the Internal Revenue Service. The total number of delinquent employees dipped slightly from 2009, but the amount owed jumped by $32 million.

The figures are “totally unacceptable and disrespectful to hardworking American taxpayers,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). “If you’re on the federal payroll, the very least you can do is pay your taxes.” 

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). (Image via CBS News) Chaffetz and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) have authored bills that would force federal agencies, the U.S. Postal Service and congressional offices to fire employees who purposely avoid paying taxes.

The True Cost of Conflict of Interest

The private-sector-focused Business Ethics Blog recently published an nteresting article about the real cost of conflicts of interests that has implications for the public sector.  In particular, the author questions whether contractors who give gifts are intentionally causing others to violate their conflict of interest duties and encouraging people to violate the Standards of Conduct. Food for thought.

Leaks at NLRB?

A National Labor Relations Board Office of Inspector General report alleges a key NLRB employee improperly leaked information. Talking Points Memo summarizes:

The IG report found that Flynn “knew, or should have know, that he had a duty to maintain the confidence of the information that he received in the performance of his official duties.” It also criticized him for a lack of candor about the messages after the IG probe began.

Ethics Articles from Fraud Facts Newsletter

The Spring 2012 Edition of Fraud Facts, an Air Force publication, has a couple of articles about ethics:

Workplace Ethics in Transition provides study results showing that there are currently "historically low levels of current misconduct in the American workplace and record high levels of employee reporting.  The percentage of employees who witnessed misconduct at work fell to a new low of 45 percent. That compares to 49 percent in 2009 and is well down from the record high of 55 percent in 2007.  Those who reported the bad behavior they saw reached a record high of 65 percent, up from 63" Unfortunately, the article contends that "As the economy gets better – and companies and employees become more optimistic about their financial futures – it seems likely that misconduct will rise and reporting will drop, mirroring the growth in pressure and retaliation that have already taken place and conforming to historic patterns." The article also purports to link social networking in the workplace with more ethical problems.

Leading by Example: Implementing a Values-Based Ethics Program at DoD explains DoD efforts to focus on values, rather than rules, arguing: Regulations can’t address every situation an employee faces, so a set of guiding principles are needed to help address the circumstances when the rules aren’t clear. This is the fundamental argument for a values-based ethics program. Best-in-class values-based ethics programs have several distinct features. They are based on a set of core values that are not only communicated from the top down, but they are integrated into everyday decisions throughout the organization. Best-in-class programs also train all employees on ethical decision-making every year. They focus on building an ethical culture where employees are encouraged to raise concerns, and they are rewarded for upholding standards of integrity.

Issues of Fraud Facts, including the most current, are available through a link on the right side of an Air Force website:

Time for Office Pool Reminder?

Our 2008 and 2009 posts discussed ways to remind employees that gambling is a standards of conduct violation.

Ethics related news here, there, & everywhere... Oh my!

• Huffington Post blog on the STOCK Act.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-holman/will-main-street-or-wall-_b_1321146.html.
• Federal Times blog on the one-year cooling off period.  http://blogs.federaltimes.com/federal-law/2012/03/05/remember-1-year-rule-when-talking-with-former-federal-co-workers/.
• Former FDA scientist sentenced to 60 months for insider trading.  See DOJ press release at http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/March/12-crm-284.html.
• Former Puerto Rico Senator and Businessman Each Sentenced to 48 Months in Prison for Their Roles in Bribery Scheme http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/March/12-crm-266.html.

Lobbyists sue Federal Govt over ban on Advisory Committees

Lobbyists who were serving or sought to serve, but were banned from federal advisory committees by the Obama administration, are suing the government to reverse the ban on their service on grounds that it violates the First Amendment. All plaintiffs were up or served on the Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITAC), which are jointly managed by the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. 

Read the full The Hill article at http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/210439-lobbyists-sue-obama-after-being-booted-from-boards 

Lobbyists sue Federal Govt over ban on Advisory Committees

Lobbyists who were serving or sought to serve, but were banned from federal advisory committees by the Obama administration, are suing the government to reverse the ban on their service on grounds that it violates the First Amendment. All plaintiffs were up or served on the Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITAC), which are jointly managed by the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. 

Read the full The Hill article at http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/210439-lobbyists-sue-obama-after-being-booted-from-boards 

Who's to Blame for Ethics Debacles, Private Sector Fraud or Government Lapses?

A POGO post cites four examples of dubious ethics conduct that helped private industry (Interior MMS, FDA advisory committee re Yaz & Yasmin contraceptives, Boeing helicopters and SEC Bear Stearns controversy), and finds the common thread: In the end, it's all on the government.

In these examples, the private sector is benefitting, perhaps inappropriately. But can you blame them? While it’s no excuse for wrongdoing, let’s be honest: The business of business is to make money, but it’s the government’s business to protect the public’s interests.

In the four cases mentioned, the government’s failure to act contributes to a culture of impunity. ...

In these cases, industry might be doing something that is questionable and/or fleeces the taxpayer, but it’s the government’s failure to maintain its own integrity and robustly protect its own interests that enabled the wrongdoing. Holding those people accountable whose job it is to protect the public good is the only way to change this culture of impunity.

The Right Way to Announce a DAEO Appointment

Ideally, an agency head's announcement of a DAEO should build them up, giving them credibility with the workforce that makes it easier for them to do their job. Here's a slightly redacted version of a recent announcement from the USAID Administrator that we believe demonstrates a good approach:

I am pleased to announce my designation of Jim Peters, the Assistant General Counsel for Ethics and Administration (GC/EA), as USAID’s Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO), pursuant to the requirements of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.  Jim has my complete confidence to carry out the functions of the Agency’s ethics program, including the collection and review of employee financial disclosure forms, managing the annual ethics training, and providing day-to-day guidance and counseling.  Jim has been performing many of these functions throughout his 25-year career in the U.S. Government, and within his 15-year tenure with the Agency.  He has been USAID’s Alternate DAEO for half of that time.
 
As we carry out our daily functions and work to implement USAID Forward, it is important that we keep sight of the ethical obligations that we owe to the American public and the ultimate beneficiaries of our efforts.  This means not only complete compliance with the ethics rules, but also a focus on doing the right thing.  Jim is a regular resource to my staff and me, and I encourage you to contact him or a member of his staff with any questions you may have.  ...
 
I have also named Bruce McPherson, Attorney-Advisor in GC/EA, as the Alternate DAEO.  Bruce has a background in banking and in legal practice at a prominent DC law firm, and in his nearly two years at USAID has built upon this to become an excellent resource as well.  For staff posted overseas, you may contact your Regional Legal Advisor (RLA), who also serves as a Deputy Ethics Officer.

Shelby's STOCK Act

GovExec article discusses the implications of Congressman Shelby's amendments to the STOCK Act, introduced to address concerns about Congressmen not being covered by insider trading laws.  Under the amendment the impact has been expanded to try to cover many Executive Branch personnel.  As currently contemplated, the law could require:

• Electronic availability of Public Financial Disclosure report
• Posting of all stock trades of certain personnel, where the transaction exceeds $1,000, for all or some financial disclosure filers

See full article at http://www.govexec.com/oversight/2012/02/momentum-builds-require-feds-disclose-stock-trades/41092/.

For details about the various STOCK Act versions, see http://insidertrading.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004520.

Interesting article on Congress' Insider Trading Bill

If you missed it, the Senate overwhelmingly (96-3) passed the bill that would impose insider training restrictions on lawmakers this week.  The House is expected to take it up next week.  Interestingly, attached conflicting amendments would further impose this on certain Executive Branch employees.  See Associated Press article at http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/03/house-ready-to-consider-insider-trading-ban/.

New York Times Editorial on Ethics and the Supreme Court

The New York Times recently published an editorial regarding ethics and the Supreme Court.

The removal appeal of the employee implicated in US v. POGO is remanded

Consequences of United States v. Project on Government Oversight, 525 F.Supp.2d, 161, 164 (D.D.C. 2007).  The Dept. of Interior employee, Robert Berman received notice of his proposed removal for misuse of public office for personal gain.  The Federal Circuit suspended its review of the case pending the outcome of the DC Circuit case on whether he violated 18 USC 209 by accepting an award from POGO.  Since that case was remanded for a new jury verdict, so was the personnel removal case. 

See Berman v. Department of the Interior, C.A.F.C. No. 2010-3052 (nonprecedential) (Nov. 7, 2011) at http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/images/stories/opinions-orders/10-3052.pdf.

Read related article at: http://www.fedsmith.com/articles/articles_display.php?a=3183&p=1

"Financial Conflicts of Interest In and Out of Government" by Kathleen Clark

Several people have requested information related to Kathleen Clark's presentation at the September 2011 OGE Conference.  The article she wrote is published as "Financial Conflicts of Interest In and Out of Government" in the Washington University in St. Louis Legal Studies Research Paper No. 11-02-03.  See http://law.wustl.edu/faculty_profiles/pages.aspx?id=223.

Ethics related news items

Please see the following news items which are related to ethics:

• Farm Credit Administration Federal Register publication of its policy statement on ethics. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-11-17/pdf/2011-29687.pdf
• Project on Goverment Oversight (POGO) articles
  • Follow up article on SEC ethics problems. http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2011/11/watchdog-report-confirms-that-sec-employees-destroyed-records-and-misled-national-archives.html#tp 
  • Follow up article on Senior Mentors at the Dept. of Defense.  See http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2011/11/98-percent-of-former-military-officers-drop-out-of-pentagon-program-after-financial-disclosure-.html
  • Morning Smoke: Big Banks Promise, Repeatedly, Not to Break SEC Rules. http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2011/11/morning-smoke-big-banks-promise-repeatedly-not-to-break-sec-rules.html

Presidential Executive Order: PROMOTING EFFICIENT SPENDING

On Nov. 9, 2011, the President signed an executive order to promote efficient spending in the Executive Branch.  See EO at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/09/executive-order-promoting-efficient-spending.  The EO is part of the Campaign to Cut Waste, and coincided with the announcement of the 2011 SAVE Award finalist.  See WH press release: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/09/we-cant-wait-president-obama-sign-executive-order-cut-waste-and-promote-.

Within 45 days, agencies must develop plans to reduce combined costs in the following areas to 20 percent below Fiscal Year 2010 levels by Fiscal Year 2013.

1. Reduce Spending on Travel and Conferences.
2. Cut Duplicative and Unnecessary Employee Information Technology Devices
3. End Unnecessary Printing and Put It Online
4. Limit Motor Vehicles
5. Stop Swag – or Government Promotional Handouts

Public-Private Partnership (P3) Presentation Materials

As promised, here are the relevant materials from the wonderful presentation on Public-Private Partnerships by  by USAID and State Department officials.

• Power Point Presentation: Download Dept State Public Private Partnership
• Dept. of State, P3 website: http://www.state.gov/t/pm/wra/partners/
• USAID website: http://idea.usaid.gov/
• USAID fact sheet on difference between P3 and Global Development Alliances: http://idea.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/PPPs_vs_GDAs.pdf

More to come. Or if you have P3 resources to share, please email them to us. 

Alleged Supreme Court Conflicts of Interest

The focus of this site is Executive Branch issues, but for awareness purposes, we pass along a link from an IEC member concerning allegations of conflicts of interest against a Supreme Court justice.  

Brainstorming Ethics Implications of Budget Cuts

An August OMB memo directed federal agencies to plan forr 2013 budgets that at least 5 percent below  2011 spending levels. The goal for 2013 budget is at least 10 percent below current appropriations.

What impact will this budget trend have on ethics programs? Coping with smaller budgets is one obvious impact. Will it also impact the types of ethics problems we see?

We welcome your thoughts on these issues, and have enabled the Comments feature on this post. We look forward to hearing from you.

Management Guru Advises Relationship With Ethics Officer

A Frank McDonough post on advice for senior federal managers includes this tip: "schedule semi-annual meetings with the ethics officer." He also notes that the increasing number of laws and regulatory prohibitions creates snares for the unwary, and stresses the importance of avoiding the appearance of impropriety.

Honest Services Fraud Fix Advances

CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) disagrees with the Wall Street Journal's criticism of a legislative proposal to remedy the effects of Skilling vs. United States on the honest services fraud statute, (18 U.S.C. § 1346):

The WSJ's concern about overcriminalization and prosecutorial abuse might have applied to prior versions of the honest services statute, but the current proposal borrows language from 18 U.S.C. 208, a well-established federal conflict-of-interest statute that already applies to the executive branch and, more importantly, has been upheld as constitutionally sound by the Supreme Court. Further, under the proposed statute no public officials may be prosecuted unless they knowingly conceal, cover up, or fail to disclose material information they are obliged to reveal by law or regulation. As crafted, this bill removes the risk that a public official will be convicted for unwitting conflicts of interest or mistakes.

The Senate Committee on the Judiciary approved the “The Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act” (S. 401) late in July.

Big Shots Who Are Humble Impress China

Thanks to an alert IEC member for alerting us to a NY Times article that shows how normal U.S. standards of behavior by public officials can make a big impression on those in other countries: 

A photograph taken last Friday of Gary F. Locke, the new United States ambassador to China, buying coffee with his 6-year-old daughter and carrying a black backpack at a Starbucks in the Seattle airport has gone viral on the Chinese Internet. The seemingly banal scene has bewildered and disarmed Chinese because they are used to seeing their own officials indulge in privileged lives often propped up by graft and bribery and lavish expense accounts. … 

Mr. Locke and his family were waiting to fly to Beijing when a Chinese-American businessman shot the photograph and posted it on Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese social networking site. It has been reposted over 40,000 times and has generated thousands of comments. State news organizations have weighed in with favorable articles about Mr. Locke, a former governor of Washington State and President Obama’s first Commerce secretary, who on Tuesday presented his credentials to President Hu Jintao of China to start his posting. …

“To most Chinese people, the scene was so unusual it almost defied belief,” Chen Weihua, an editor at China Daily, an official English-language newspaper, wrote in an article Wednesday.

The danger in focusing so intently on how we can improve our system has a downside, in that it can sometimes cause us to overlook the blessings that we already have.

Resources Available to Ethics Officials Concerning Special Government Employees

We usually prefer to avoid reposting of information distributed via the OGE mailing list, but the note below on Special Government Employees seems so useful it is worth an exception: 

OGE issued an Advisory Opinion in 2000 that provides a summary of the ethical requirements applicable to Special Government Employees.  For a quick reference on the financial disclosure reporting requirements for SGEs go to DAEOgram (03-021).  If you receive question on post-employment restrictions, read DAEOgram (07-002) which clarifies the “cooling off” restrictions and conditions under which an agency need not count a day of service solely on the basis of certain activities by SGEs.

To increase awareness of applicable ethics standards and principles you may want  to send your SGES an online training module developed by OGE entitled, "Ethics Training for Special Government Employees." The course is an interactive web-based training module designed to be completed in about one hour and is intended for use by Special Government Employees (SGEs).  It contains a summary of the ethics laws and rules that apply to SGEs, and may be appropriate as part of either your initial or annual ethics training program.

Save Money on Official Travel

Wayne Johnson was kind enough to provide a few tips that should be very valuable for those attending the upcoming OGE Conference in Orlando in September and for other government travel situations as well:

Some federal ethics workers travel infrequently and thus may not be aware that some states, such as Florida, exempt federal employees on Temporary Duty (TDY) orders from paying sales/hotel taxes on their hotel rooms.

Travelers on TDY using their government issued “travel card” (or personal credit card if not issued a travel card) to pay their hotel accommodations pay state sales tax even though the federal government will be reimbursing the traveler later UNLESS under the local state’s law there is a tax exemption. This is because the sale is made to the person, not the government, who is personally responsible for paying the “travel card” bill. States do not have to offer this exemption to government travelers nor are hotels required to make the traveler aware of this.

The traveler’s government travel card should not be confused with the GSA SMART CARD IMPACT CREDIT CARD. Holders of the IMPACT card, usually the office’s procurement official, never pay state sales taxes when using the IMPACT card as those charges are billed directly to the U.S. Government and are thus not subject to state sales taxes as a matter of Federal law.

General Services Administration’s (GSA’s) web page provides more information, including links to all 50 states and explanations of their tax policies. GSA also provides information about Florida in particular. Information on Florida law in particular. Copies of the Florida hotel tax exemption form are available at the following websites:

• GSA and
• AFCEA

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are those of Wayne Johnson and are not those of the U.S. Government. They were prepared in his personal capacity and are not to be construed to imply that his agency or the U.S. Government sanctions or endorses what he has written.

Need to collect Contractor Business Ethics Compliance info?

The Federal Register published a joint notice of request for public comments regarding an extension to an existing OMB clearance requirement.   Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the FAR, and whether it will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and methodology; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways in which we can minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.  Comments due Aug. 26, 2011.  See Fed.Reg. at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-06-27/pdf/2011-16058.pdf.

More ethics related news items

Government press releases on misconduct:

• Bureau of Prisons employee indicted for selling govt equipment. http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/press/2011/2011_06_09a.pdf
• FEMA employee charged with embezzling $149K. http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/press/oigpr_040811.pdf
• Former supervisory at US Customs & Immigration Service convicted of bribery.  http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/press/oigpr_050311.pdf
• Coast Guard Officer indicted in kickback scheme in Coast Guard contracting. http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/press/oigpr_060911.pdf
• Army Sergent indicted in bribery scheme related to govt contracting. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/June/11-crm-809.html 

Other news articles:

• The Hill's report on corrupation in the Customs & Border Protection Agency. http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/165925-corruption-a-problem-at-customs-and-border-protection-agency-head-says
• GovExec article on the Congressional testimony by Ana Galinda-Marrone, Chief of the Hatch Act unit at the Office of Special Counsel re complaints of inappropriate partisan political activity in Federal workplace. http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=48056&dcn=e_gvet

Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA)

Federal Advisory CommitteeAct question? Executive Order 12024 (1976) delegated the President's implementation responsibilities to the Administrator of GSA.  The FACA section of the GSA website has guidance.

Interesting articles on Congressional Financial Disclosures

Amanda Becker authors an interesting article about Congressional financial disclosure requirements and penalties.  See full article at http://www.rollcall.com/issues/56_119/financial-disclosure-congress-205462-1.html.  She previously published another article on the same revision of the instruction manual from the House Ethics Committee, which avoided including same-sex spouse interests as a reportable information.  See http://www.rollcall.com/issues/56_117/financial-disclosure-same-sex-couples-205356-1.html?pos=adp.

For access to the new House Ethics Committee guidance, see: http://ethics.house.gov/Subjects/List.aspx?subid=6 

GSA's new Federal Advisory Committee Website

A White House press release discusses the new GSA website dedicated to the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

The public will now be able to retrieve information about advisory committee membership, costs, meetings, and contact information. The user friendly site provides not only information about individual committee members but also information about the composition of specific committees. GSA’s new user friendly site also links directly to the websites of many of the individual federal advisory committees.

GSA’s effort to provide more information about federal advisory committees supports efforts to move FACA management and implementation to newer technologies. Electronic FACA, or eFACA, is the broader name given to the agency’s efforts to guide other agencies about the best use of technology to reduce the costs of advisory committee meetings and increase public access.

Thanks to Steve Epstein for the tip.

S.Ct. to hear case on whether COI restrictions violate 1st Amendment Rights

A Nevada public official was centured by the state's ethics commission for voting on a provision which would have impact on his friend.  He is now appealing the ruling to the Supreme Court on the basis that this conflict of interest rule violates his freedom of speech.  Read the Washington Post full article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court-confronts-whether-conflict-of-interest-laws-violate-officials-free-speech/2011/04/23/AF9hsTdE_story.html

Ethics in the News

• The National Journal article on how cartels try to corrupt Federal employees. http://www.nationaljournal.com/how-drug-cartels-try-to-corrupt-federal-employees-20110412?mrefid=site_search&page=1
• TSA employee indicted for posting child pornography on his personal FB page (he also posted photos in his uniform) http://articles.philly.com/2011-04-23/news/29466700_1_tsa-spokeswoman-ann-davis-child-pornography-federal-agents 
• Union's seek approval for "controlled napping" during official duty hours (misuse of govt resources?) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703907004576279481823660922.html?mod=WSJ_article_LatestHeadlines
• Clerk faces administrative action after posting sensitive/confidential information online. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/investigation/sealed-federal-court-records-exposed-216309

A frightening trend in the reporting news

Have you noticed that the media has been emphasizing the Federal employment status of individuals being reported for various alleged crimes, even though its unrelated to the misconduct being reported?  It seems to be a new alarming trend, which inappropriately impugns their Federal agency's integrity.

Check out these articles for example:

• http://www.news4jax.com/news/27627451/detail.html
• http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/559918/VA-employee-pleads-guilty-to-the---.html

Tech Firm head pleads guilty in bribery scheme at the Navy

The head of a Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) contractor, Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow, plead guilty to bribing a public official.  According to court documents, from 1996 to 2011, the company paid at least $8 million to program managers to ensure that millions of dollars in additional funds were added to Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow's contracts and that its invoices were paid.  See article at http://www.theday.com/article/20110421/NWS09/304219391/-1/NWS.

Newell: A New Approach to Ethics in Government?

Terry Newell, founder of Leadership for a Responsible Society, presents his views on ethics reform in a Huffington Post article entitled Needed: A New Approach to Ethics in Government.

Federal Employee Pleads Guilty to Failure to File Federal Income Tax Return

A federal employee recently pled guilty to one count of failure to file her 2008 income tax returns.  The facts however bear out a lot more--namely, failure to timely file most returns and willfully acting to stop her federal agency employer from withholding her Federal income tax, among other things.  The woman was apparently a member of the "tax protest" movement. See DOJ press release at http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/April/11-tax-474.html.

OPM fundraising guidance related to Japan's Earthquake & Tsunami

On March 23, 2011, OPM certified the Japanese Earthquake & Tsunami as a natural disaster, pursuant to5 CFR §950.102.  This authorizes special solicitations of Federal employees outside the Combined Federal Campaign.   To conduct special solicitations within an agency, employees should still check with the office responsible for their CFC program to verify whether there are other agency-specific requirements.

• OPM Special Solicitation Memo - http://www.chcoc.gov/transmittals/TransmittalDetails.aspx?TransmittalID=3702
• OPM FAQ Regarding Special Solicitations For Victims of the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan- http://www.chcoc.gov/documents/DisplayDocument.aspx?PublicDocID=252 

FDA chemist charged with Insider Trading

Have you ever thought about "Insider Trading" as being a more specific example of the Government ethics principles of not using public office for private gain or nondisclosure of non-public information, violation of which underminds public trust.  Well this might be a good example of how these principles work.

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chemist and his son were arrested in connection with an alleged $2.27 million insider trading scheme.  Mr. Cheng Yi Liang was entrusted with privileged information to perform his job and used that information to line his pockets.  See full Justice Press release at http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/March/11-crm-393.html.

An Alternate Approach to NCAA Pools

In an e-mail with the title "No one wants to be a spoil sport . . . so don't be" an astute IEC member pointed out that there are alternatives to the nanny-type approach of warning against gambling:

One alternative to playing the heavy on the NCAA front, (and arguably losing some of your hard fought for credibility) it to work with the people who want to run pools to make sure they are legal.  Here’s how one agency handles NCAA pools. 

From:
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010
To:
Subject: Policy Schmolicy . . . . Let's talk basketball!!!

 Lowering trade barriers, negotiating new agreements, opening markets, and winning big cases are all well and good, but we all know that if we really want to impress our cohor …. coworkers, the real way to do it is to win the annual, completely ethical, NCAA Basketball Pool!!!! 

Time to show your stuff in the race to have your name inscribed on the prestigious and coveted Oracle of March Trophy.  (not to mention the chance to show your collogues that you know more about basketball than they do.)  Simply fill out the attached bracket, or whatever version you have, using all of your skill, knowledge, cunning or dumb luck, and drop it off in  Room # by noon on Thursday. 

So join this free and totally ethical NCAA pool and win everlasting (or until we lose the trophy) fame and glory.  Now, isn't that so much better than money?  (Don’t answer that, since I’m not really giving you a choice anyway.)

Bills Target Tax Delinquent Employees

GovExec.com reports on two new bills would prevent contractors and federal employees with "seriously delinquent" tax debt from working for the government.

Time for Gambling Reminder?

With the NCAA tournament rapidly approaching, some may want to issue reminders to their workforce that gambling is prohibited. Our March 2008 and 2009 posts had suggestions.

Bribery convictions in the News

• A former correctional officer at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester was sentenced to 8 months for accepting $5,000 in bribes (betraying public trust) from two inmates' familites.  See DOJ press release at http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/press/2011/2011_03_08.pdf.

• Puerto Rico Senator Hector Martinez Maldonado and Juan Bravo Fernandez, the former president of one of the largest private security companies in Puerto Rico, were convicted by a jury for their roles in a bribery scheme, where the Senator received lavish gifts and travel in exchange for official acts (like beneficial legisltation).  See DOJ press release at http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/March/11-crm-289.html.

Ethics pledge stymies prospective appointee, Larry Mirel

The Hill published an article on Feb. 22, 2011, dealing with the unsuccessful appointment of Larry Mirel to the National Flood Insurance Program, because the White House would not grant him an Ethics Pledge waiver.  Read the full article at http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/143409-flood-program-appointee-stymied-by-ethics-pledge.

DOI Rule on Integrity & Scholarship

The Department of the Interior has issued new rules on integrity and scholarship. Government Executive has comments.

FBI Office of Professional Responsibility report on Agents behavior

CNN reports on the ethical and inappropriate conduct of FBI employees.  From documents obtained from the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, it appears that only 325-350 out of 34,300 FBI employees are disciplined each year, which bodes pretty well for their ethical conduct of the agency.  But it also shows some serious lack of judgment and conduct unbecoming a Federal employee.  See report at http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/27/siu.fbi.internal.documents/index.html. 

See related articles:

• FBI OPR document at http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/01/27/fbi.documents.siu.pdf
• TMP Media report at http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/fbi_agent_threatened_to_release_sex_tape_with_reporter.php?ref=fpb#.