Dec 15: In the face of FBI stonewall, Congress voted to give Inspectors General clearer authority.
Last edited Thu Jan 12, 2017, 03:53 PM - Edit history (3)
Obama signed the bill.
In 2014, the Justice Department Inspector General had testified that the FBI (and other agencies) obstructed the IG's investigations. The bill seems to have been written to address these concerns.
This newly defined authority could be important to the investigation of Comey's actions by Inspector general Horowitz that was announced today. I expect Comey to continue to stonewall, but the new law gives Horowitz an important tool.
http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/15043-inspector-general-empowerment-act-unanimously-passes-in-congress
Washington – Congress has unanimously passed the Inspector General Empowerment Act of 2016 (H.R. 6450), legislation intended to strengthen the authority of the more than 70 Inspectors General across the federal government.
Provisions of the act, passed by the House on Dec. 8 and approved by the Senate on Dec. 10, include:
Confirming that federal IGs are entitled to full and prompt access to agency records, ensuring effective and independent audits, reviews and investigations
Allowing IGs to match data across agencies, helping to uncover wasteful spending while boosting public access to information on potential government misconduct
The act, which amends the Inspector General Act of 1978, was proposed after a July 2015 opinion from the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel stated that the original act did not permit IGs access to all records available to agencies.
“Passage of the IG Empowerment Act enhances the IGs’ ability to fight waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct, protects whistleblowers who share information with IGs, increases government transparency, and bolsters the public’s confidence in the independence of IGs,” Michael Horowitz, DOJ IG and chair of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, said in a Dec. 12 press release. “For these reasons, the Act is an important milestone for good government.”
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/fbi-obstructs-oversight-doj-inspector-general-says
Federal agencies like the FBI regularly obstruct the Justice Department’s watchdog office from conducting effective oversight, the Inspector General testified Tuesday before Congress.
SNIP
“Access by Inspectors General to information in agency files goes to the heart of our mission to provide independent and non-partisan oversight,” Horowitz said.
A 1978 law gives Inspectors General the power to request documents and information from the agencies they are tasked with policing. But according to Horowitz, many agencies have recently been ignoring the statute. “The IG Act expressly provides that an independent Inspector General should decide whether documents are relevant to an OIG’s work,” Horowitz said. “However, the current process at the Department instead places that decision and authority in the leadership of the agency that is being subjected to our oversight.”
The Justice Department is not the only agency affected by a lack of transparency. Forty-seven inspectors generals signed a letter in August arguing that obstructionism happens throughout the federal government. In one instance, the Peace Corps withheld records related to sexual assaults committed against volunteers. The Inspectors General who signed the letter urged Congress to take action.
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