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Another day and more scandals at the EPA.
Following the bizarre story of a former high ranking EPA employee that was paid for over 10 years while he pretended to be an undercover CIA agent, today we find out the agency was paying personnel that were engaged in misconduct.
Making matters worse, the EPA’s inspector general’s office testified that the agency’s Office of Homeland Security was obstructing internal investigations of personnel misconduct.
Fox News reported on a hearing, “Is EPA Leadership Obstructing It’s Own Inspector General?,” by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee:
The committee revealed several startling allegations and cases shared by the inspector general’s office. In one case, an employee was getting paid for one or two years after moving to a retirement home, where the employee allegedly did not work. When an investigation began, the worker was simply placed on sick leave.
In another case, an employee with multiple-sclerosis was allowed to work at home for the last 20 years. However, for the past five years, she allegedly produced no work — though she was paid roughly $600,000. She retired after an investigation.
In yet another case, an employee was accused of viewing pornography for two-to-six hours a day since 2010. An IG probe found the worker had 7,000 pornographic files on his EPA computer.
The Committee heard testimony from Patrick Sullivan, the assistant inspector general, about the conflict between his office and the EPA’s Homeland Security office:
Sullivan said Wednesday that the office’s actions delayed and damaged their own probe.
Further, he claimed a “total and systematic refusal” to share information has stymied investigations. Sullivan said the office for years has blocked the inspector general’s office from information by citing national security concerns and compelling employees to sign non-disclosure agreements.Another inspector general investigator, Elisabeth Heller Drake, testified that the EPA asked the inspector general’s office to halt a probe into a homeland security office employee after he allegedly assaulted her in October.
The EPA has truly gone wild. The only way to control the EPA is to dramatically cut the agency’s budget.
