Watchdogs are an endangered species in the Age of Obama. The latest government ombudsman to get the muzzle: Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold. The longtime veteran employee was abruptly retired this month -- just as the government-subsidized rail service faces mounting complaints about its meddling in financial audits and probes.
Question the timing? Hell yes.
On June 18 Weiderhold met with Amtrak officials to discuss the results of an independent report by the Washington D.C. law firm Willkie Farr and Gallagher. The 94-page report has been made publicly available through the office of whistleblower advocate Sen. Charles Grassley R-Iowa. It concluded that the independence and effectiveness of the Amtrak inspector generals office are being substantially impaired by the agencys Law Department.
Amtrak bosses have effectively gagged their budgetary watchdogs from communicating with Congress without pre-approval; required that all Amtrak documents be pre-screened (and in some cases redacted) before being turned over to the inspector generals office; and taken control of the inspector generals $5 million portion of federal stimulus spending.
Moreover the report revealed Amtrak regularly retained outside law firms shielded from IG reach. In another case Amtraks Law Department appeared to meddle in an inspector general investigation of an outside financial adviser suspected of inflating fees. The consultant ran to the Law Department when the IG demanded documents and the Law Department repudiated the IGs instructions on complying with a subpoena.
These interventions (ongoing since 2007) have systematically violated the letter and spirit of the Inspector General Act according to Grassley. IG staffers now fear retaliation -- and with good reason. Their boss Weiderhold lost his job on the very day Amtrak received the Willkie Farr and Gallagher report. It may be hot and humid in the rest of the Beltway but every inspector generals office is feeling an Arctic chill.
The transparent sacking comes just as Amtrak is awash in more than $1.3 billion in new federal stimulus money. It comes on the heels of the unceremonious dismissal of Gerald Walpin the AmeriCorps inspector general who dared to probe financial shenanigans by Obama cronies. (See Obamas AmeriCrooks and Cronies Scandal June 17 2009.) And it comes on the heels of the stifling of veteran Environmental Protection Agency employee Alan Carlin the researcher who dared to question the Obama administrations conventional wisdom on global warming. (See EPAs Game of Global Warming Hide-and-Seek June 26 2009.)
Question the timing? You betcha.
So who is behind the railroading of the Amtrak inspector general? As with the story of the AmeriCorps firing which has First Lady Michelle Obamas fingerprints on it the Amtrak case smells like cronyism. Investigative journalist Robert Stacy McCain who has watchdogged the watchdog stories noted last week that Amtraks vice president and general counsel is Eleanor Acheson.
Acheson an old friend of Hillary Clinton also has close ties to Vice President Joe Mr. Amtrak Biden. She hired Bidens nominations counsel Jonathan Meyer to serve as her deputy general counsel. The two had also worked together in the Clinton Justice Department. Meyer called his hiring at Amtrak by Acheson a happy coincidence according to Legal Times. (In another happy coincidence Bidens lobbyist son Hunter sits on Amtraks board of directors.) Acheson oversees the very Law Department accused of interfering repeatedly with the taxpayer advocates in the inspector generals office.
Grassley has requested that Amtrak supply information on Weiderholds unexpected retirement as well as internal and personal materials related to his departure and the report on Amtrak managers meddling. On the House side Reps. Edolphus Towns D-N.Y. and Darrell Issa R-Calif. announced a probe Monday into Amtraks actions. They zeroed in on Amtraks choice of Lorraine Green to replace the retired Weiderhold.
Who is Lorraine Green? Shes a former Amtrak human resources executive and faithful Democrat donor with no experience in the inspector general business. Her expertise? Managing diversity initiatives for the agency. Watchdog out. Lapdog in.
Can someone open a window? The fetid odor of Hope and Change is really starting to stink up the joint.
Michelle Malkin makes news and waves with a unique combination of investigative journalism and incisive commentary. She is the author of Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild .
Watchdogs are an endangered species in the Age of Obama. The latest government ombudsman to get the muzzle: Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold. The longtime veteran employee was abruptly retired this month -- just as the government-subsidized rail service faces mounting complaints about its meddling in financial audits and probes.
Question the timing? Hell yes.
On June 18 Weiderhold met with Amtrak officials to discuss the results of an independent report by the Washington D.C. law firm Willkie Farr and Gallagher. The 94-page report has been made publicly available through the office of whistleblower advocate Sen. Charles Grassley R-Iowa. It concluded that the independence and effectiveness of the Amtrak inspector generals office are being substantially impaired by the agencys Law Department.
Amtrak bosses have effectively gagged their budgetary watchdogs from communicating with Congress without pre-approval; required that all Amtrak documents be pre-screened (and in some cases redacted) before being turned over to the inspector generals office; and taken control of the inspector generals $5 million portion of federal stimulus spending.
Moreover the report revealed Amtrak regularly retained outside law firms shielded from IG reach. In another case Amtraks Law Department appeared to meddle in an inspector general investigation of an outside financial adviser suspected of inflating fees. The consultant ran to the Law Department when the IG demanded documents and the Law Department repudiated the IGs instructions on complying with a subpoena.
These interventions (ongoing since 2007) have systematically violated the letter and spirit of the Inspector General Act according to Grassley. IG staffers now fear retaliation -- and with good reason. Their boss Weiderhold lost his job on the very day Amtrak received the Willkie Farr and Gallagher report. It may be hot and humid in the rest of the Beltway but every inspector generals office is feeling an Arctic chill.
The transparent sacking comes just as Amtrak is awash in more than $1.3 billion in new federal stimulus money. It comes on the heels of the unceremonious dismissal of Gerald Walpin the AmeriCorps inspector general who dared to probe financial shenanigans by Obama cronies. (See Obamas AmeriCrooks and Cronies Scandal June 17 2009.) And it comes on the heels of the stifling of veteran Environmental Protection Agency employee Alan Carlin the researcher who dared to question the Obama administrations conventional wisdom on global warming. (See EPAs Game of Global Warming Hide-and-Seek June 26 2009.)
Question the timing? You betcha.
So who is behind the railroading of the Amtrak inspector general? As with the story of the AmeriCorps firing which has First Lady Michelle Obamas fingerprints on it the Amtrak case smells like cronyism. Investigative journalist Robert Stacy McCain who has watchdogged the watchdog stories noted last week that Amtraks vice president and general counsel is Eleanor Acheson.
Acheson an old friend of Hillary Clinton also has close ties to Vice President Joe Mr. Amtrak Biden. She hired Bidens nominations counsel Jonathan Meyer to serve as her deputy general counsel. The two had also worked together in the Clinton Justice Department. Meyer called his hiring at Amtrak by Acheson a happy coincidence according to Legal Times. (In another happy coincidence Bidens lobbyist son Hunter sits on Amtraks board of directors.) Acheson oversees the very Law Department accused of interfering repeatedly with the taxpayer advocates in the inspector generals office.
Grassley has requested that Amtrak supply information on Weiderholds unexpected retirement as well as internal and personal materials related to his departure and the report on Amtrak managers meddling. On the House side Reps. Edolphus Towns D-N.Y. and Darrell Issa R-Calif. announced a probe Monday into Amtraks actions. They zeroed in on Amtraks choice of Lorraine Green to replace the retired Weiderhold.
Who is Lorraine Green? Shes a former Amtrak human resources executive and faithful Democrat donor with no experience in the inspector general business. Her expertise? Managing diversity initiatives for the agency. Watchdog out. Lapdog in.
Can someone open a window? The fetid odor of Hope and Change is really starting to stink up the joint.
Michelle Malkin makes news and waves with a unique combination of investigative journalism and incisive commentary. She is the author of Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild .
