Waxman: State Dept. Watchdog’s ‘Foremost Mission Is To Support The Bush Administration’
Waxman: State Dept. Watchdog’s ‘Foremost Mission Is To Support The Bush Administration’
The Inspector General Act of 1978 states Inspectors General (IG) must be “independent and objective” in their analysis. The State Department IG, led by Howard Krongard, has a core mission of “promot[ing] integrity” and “prevent[ing] and detect waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement” within the Department.
But today, House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote to Krongard under allegations from seven employees that he “has repeatedly interfered with on-going investigations to protect the State Department and the White House from political embarrassment.”
Waxman wrote that one “consistent allegation” is that Krongard believes his “foremost mission is to support the Bush Administration, especially with respect to Iraq and Afghanistan,” rather than “act as an independent and objective check.” Waxman also noted complaints of Krongard’s “partisan political ties.”
Among the allegations:
– Refused to send “any investigators” into Iraq and Afghanistan to “pursue investigations into wasteful spending or procurement fraud.”
– Stalled investigators from cooperating with a “Justice Department investigation into waste, fraud, and abuse relating to the new U.S. Embassy in Iraq.”
– Used “irregular” and incomplete investigative procedures to help exonerate a prime contractor of the U.S. embassy in Iraq of charges of labor trafficking.
– Impeded investigators’ efforts to cooperate with a Justice probe into allegations that a “large private security contractor was smuggling weapons into Iraq.”
– Interfered with an on-going investigation “into the conduct of Kenneth Tomlinson, the head of Voice of America and a close associate of Karl Rove.”
– Censored portions of inspection reports on embassies so that information on security vulnerabilities was “not disclosed to Congress.”
The report adds that under Krongard, the IG office has seen an “exodus of trained staff” as “people come to work every day fearful” of his “daily antagonism.”
The allegations against Krongard reflect a disturbing trend in the IG offices under the Bush administration. Currently, at least four IGs are under investigation into allegations of “fraud, wasteful spending and abuse of power” — the very flaws they are supposed to be preventing.
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57 Responses to “Waxman: State Dept. Watchdog’s ‘Foremost Mission Is To Support The Bush Administration’”
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GO UNITARY EXECUTIVE!!!
September 18th, 2007 at 2:29 pmladies and gentlemen…..the destruction of the USA
congratulations….the repuglicans have done what communism and all kinds of “enemies” (real or imagined…mostly imagined) couldn’t do
September 18th, 2007 at 2:31 pmThis guy smells to high heavens and hooray for Waxman.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:35 pmI’d like to point out a journalistic misstep, though. Your headline makes it sound like it is quoting Krongard. It is actually quoting Waxman. You are journalists, so please take care not to misrepresent, please!
OK troll me now as not being a true liberal!
GO UNITARY EXECUTIVE!!!
Comment by Jake D. — September 18, 2007 @ 2:29 pm
Jakey! Do you realize that you have now placed Dubya in the same exalted position as Saddam and Adolf.
You rock, Dude!
September 18th, 2007 at 2:36 pmTP always misquotes and misleads with their headlines.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:37 pm#5 You’re a damned troll. But in this case, you are correct.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:39 pmFor the record, Saddam and Adolf (Stalin too) FORCED, UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH, people to vote for them — not even Diebold did that for Bush — Saddam and Hitler had dictatorships, not a theory of reasonable government that states their is one Chief Executive and no one in that branch of government can countermand him (or her ; )
September 18th, 2007 at 2:40 pmThank you, DM, I guess.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:40 pmJakey! Do you realize that you have now placed Dubya in the same exalted position as Saddam and Adolf.
You rock, Dude!
Comment by upside00
Exactly upside. That is what Jake and his friends want: A king to worship. No checks, no balances, no oversight - just the funny feeling they get in their tummies whenever they see W in his flight suit.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:41 pmJake, you’ve always claimed that you are a Korean War veteran. If that is so, would you please tell us what exactly you were fighting for? In case you haven’t noticed, the Chinese government, which supported and armed North Korea in that war, is exactly the kind of government you now seem to support. Perhaps a better inquiry would be: which side you were fighting on?
September 18th, 2007 at 2:41 pmAnyone else NOT on the “Ignore List”?
September 18th, 2007 at 2:42 pmAs Al Franken used to remark on his Air America show- Looks like he “got the memo.”
This reminds me of Gonzales informing a startled meeting of U.S. Attorneys in Scottsdale AZ that they “serve President Bush” rather than the Constitution or the American People…
September 18th, 2007 at 2:44 pmJake D,
September 18th, 2007 at 2:44 pmwhat was the question?
not a theory of reasonable government that states their is one Chief Executive and no one in that branch of government can countermand him (or her ; )
Yes the theory jake. The theory pushed forward by those stalwarts of democracy: Yoo, Addington, Shooter, Abu Gonzales, ashcroft, Feith, etc…Yeah those are the guys I would want on my team - if I wanted to destroy this great country of ours. The theory of the 27%r’s.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:44 pmAnd my foremost mission is to poke fun at the silly liberal ideals and by this Socratic method reveal how morally blank they are and how they hinder people from achieving their full potential.
There’s nothing wrong with standing by your President. That’s what any State Department is supposed to do.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:45 pmComment by Tom — September 18, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
These types crack me up! They LOVE it when it is their “boy” in charge, but wait til 09 and a Dem has the same powers, they will go bat-sh!t and scream about lost constitution, abuse of power, blah blah blah.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:45 pmDon’t bother posing questions to a troll, expecting a reasoned response. Their only goal is to disrupt the thread and siphon off energy for the attention they so pathetically crave.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:45 pmLike I pointed out in the earlier thread re: U.S. attorney in Minnesota, Rachel Paulose: this is one of the Republican’s most popular MOs-Once your installed in your new position use extreme antagonism and threats to scare off any staff that may pose a future threat. This continuing trend is sadly forcing out any and all personell that are actually trained and experienced in their positions so they can be replaced with lower level flying monkey sycophants.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:46 pmSorry, Romeo’sDelight, I’m off to lunch . . .
September 18th, 2007 at 2:46 pmThere’s nothing wrong with standing by your President. That’s what any State Department is supposed to do.
Comment by Boudin Bob — September 18, 2007 @ 2:45 pm
But that’s NOT what an IG is supposed to do, Sausage Bob…
September 18th, 2007 at 2:49 pmI’m the one that will be decidering about who’s to be inspecterized….hehe. Krongard signed my special super secret Bush Loyality Oath….so now he’s gonna do my will…I’m the decidering guy….hehe…all cockified and stuff. If I had a IG that would do that investeragating stuff, the Uncie Dick’s profits would not be so big and stuff…hehe….gotta grab the cash before it runs out…hehe….gotta have that super secretitive plane ready for the flight outta here…hehe…nice be rancho down there in South American….hehe. hey don’t export war criminals down there…hehe…Uncie Dick says I’m all safe and stuff there…hehe…Babs where’s them pretzels.
Pull my finger…..hehehe
September 18th, 2007 at 2:49 pmAnd my foremost mission is to poke fun at the silly liberal ideals and by this Socratic method reveal how morally blank they are and how they hinder people from achieving their full potential.
Comment by Boudin Bob — September 18, 2007 @ 2:45 pm
Ya mean, like Mark Foley? Or Jack Abramoff? Duke Cunningham? Tom DeLay? Vitter?
September 18th, 2007 at 2:51 pmI am fairly sure this is Buzz Krongard’s brother, all the dots connect, but have never been able to get proof absolute.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:52 pmnew flat keyboard on the new IMac is a bit different…
Then Uncie Dick’s profits*……Nice big rancho*…..They don’t export*
I’ll try to edit closer that Psycho’s posts.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:53 pmThe headline is not a quote from the State Dept. watchdog. Shame on TP.
As for the real story, it makes sense that if you’re going to loot the treasury, you better replace the guard with one of your own. Oh well, time for more hearings.
Does anybody else fear what we, the nation and the world, will discover over time about what exactly this corrupt administration is doing, has done, or could’ve done given more time in power? A billion or so missing here, no-bid contracts there.
When will the whistle blowers come forward? When will we have this generation’s “Pentagon Papers” leaked to the media?
September 18th, 2007 at 2:58 pmSEIG HEIL!
September 18th, 2007 at 3:00 pmIf true, this is more of the same mafioso.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:00 pmYeah, this is yet another really misleading “quote” from TP.
I’m all for promoting progressive ideals, but this is Freep-level stuff. Pretty sad.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:03 pmIt is obvious to most intelligent people that Bush has corrupted every department of government. A bigger Mafia there has never been. I guess the next pres is gonna have to take alot of time to just clean house. If Bush or any of he cronies had anything to do with hireing anybody, then most likely they need to be given the boot.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:03 pmSEIG HEIL!
Hillary Clinton….is that you?
September 18th, 2007 at 3:03 pmNext up from the nest of crooked IG’s is exIG of DoD, Joe Schmitz — who resigned as Defense Department Inspector General on September 9, 2005 in order to take a position with the Prince Group, a holding company for Blackwater USA. In a letter dated June 15, 2005, and posted on the Inspector General’s website on September 2, 2005, Schmitz recused himself from investigating all matters related to Blackwater.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:04 pmallegations from seven employees that he “has repeatedly interfered with on-going investigations to protect the State Department and the White House from political embarrassment.â€
If his job was to save the WH from political embarrassment, he failed miserably.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:05 pmIt is obvious to most intelligent people that Bush has corrupted every department of government.
Not bad for a “dumbass pretzel-choking chimpster”, huh? Makes you libs look REALLY stupid if this ‘idiot’ can raise such havoc while running rings around you.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:06 pmakes you libs look REALLY stupid if this ‘idiot’ can raise such havoc while running rings around you.
Comment by Micro Macro — September 18, 2007 @ 3:06 pm
But nowhere near as stupid as you thinking it’s cool!
September 18th, 2007 at 3:07 pmFolks, we’re always going to have trolls here because TP doesn’t pre-screen comments like the wingnut sites. The best way to watch their heads explode is to ignore them. See #17 for their main purpose, and you’ll come to understand that ignoring them is the best course of action.
This thread is too important to let a troll get under your skin.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:08 pmComment by dim wit — September 18, 2007 @ 3:05 pm
Hmmm… obstruction of justice??
September 18th, 2007 at 3:10 pmIf you want to know more about Kenneth Tomlinson, click here:
The Same Kenneth Tomlinson
This guy is a walking fraud ring who single-handedly corrupted the Voice of America, the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, and the Public Broadcasting System.
Knowing that he’s been shielded by the State Dept. IG explains a lot.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:14 pmJake is right. It is a reasonable theory of government that the chief executive is the absolute ruler. President Bush is the unitary executive meaning that no law can apply to him without his consent. Thus the unitary executive may break any law, spy on any individual and order any person executed without enforcement of the law against him. Please note, this is exactly the kind of executive power wielded by Stalin, Hitler and Musolini. It does not matter whether a dictatorship is formed by force or by the surrender of the rule of law by fools such as Jake who can neither appreciate or protect their freedom or liberty.
JAKE, I HOPE THAT YOU RECEIVE YOUR UNITARY EXECUTIVE. I HOPE THAT HE EXERCISES HIS ABSOLUTE POWER OVER YOU. IF I WERE SUCH A LEADER, I WOULD HAVE YOU HUNG OUT IN PUBLIC TO BE SLOWLY TORTURED FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN I HATE AND DESPISE FOOLS AND YOU ARE SURELY A FOOL. I WOULD WATCH AS YOUR LIFE SLOWLY EBBED OUT OF YOUR BODY. I WOULD LAUGH AS YOU BEGGED FOR MERCY OR JUSTICE. AS YOU DIED, I WOULD SIMPLY SAY - NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE FALLACY THAT UNCHECKED POWER IS UNWISE.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:18 pmJake you meant leadership pricinciple? [FuhrerPrinzip]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And my foremost mission is to poke fun at the silly liberal ideals and by this Socratic method reveal how morally blank they are and how they hinder people from achieving their full potential. -Snausage Bob
The Socratic method was for helping people to think on their own not to become hive-minded people for dictatorship, what Joke D calls Unitary Executive [the conservatives have become ’statists’.
And as far as morally bankrupt goes, I see many subpeonas being handed down to (R) congress critters involved with Cunningham. Lets not forget the other amoral (R)s such as Haggard, Delay, Abramoff, Ney, Foley, Stevens, Flory, Gingrich and the long list of Republican pedophiles and perverts.
Wheres the integrity George promised? Gone, I’d say.
Further, the father of intellectual conservatism, Buckley, says that the conservative movement is slothful, and the Iraq quagmire is hardly conservative.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:19 pmHillary Clinton….is that you?
Comment by Pillboxian Gravelite — September 18, 2007 @ 3:03 pm
NIEN! It is just me, Hans Liebkind, loyal servant to our glorious Fuhrer, herr Busch!
HEIL BUSCH!!!
September 18th, 2007 at 3:21 pmIch Bin a loyal AmeriKaner, and vee vill soon rule der world!
HEIL BUSCH!
HEIL CHENEY!
Long live der new tausand jahr reich!!!
September 18th, 2007 at 3:23 pmThis thread is too important to let a troll get under your skin.
Comment by eLad in MO — September 18, 2007 @ 3:08 pm
Just a friendly warning, eLad. Yes, it works, and whilst you have a noble sentiment, it’ll get’cha bitten ’round here. Trust me on this one.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:24 pmJake is right. It is a reasonable theory of government that the chief executive is the absolute ruler.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Its a theory and not what the founding fathers intended. Its the same theory Adolph basically used. It doesn’t surprise me that JAKE would uphold such a theory that intends to destroy the balance of power. He is not a conservative as conservatives seek to diminish the possibility of a dictator or tyrant. They, the Jakes, are doing, now, what they accused the left of doing.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:26 pmAnd my foremost mission is to poke fun at the silly liberal ideals and by this Socratic method reveal how morally blank they are and how they hinder people from achieving their full potential.
Comment by Berlin Bob — September 18, 2007 @ 2:45 pm
JA! Like ven vee teech dem about der worlds wundabar history, like how vee used to ride der dinosaurs.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:27 pmThere’s nothing wrong with standing by your President.
Comment by Berlin Bobby — September 18, 2007 @ 2:45 pm
JA! Vee tried to tell dem dat at Nuremburg.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:30 pmKrongard is just another cog in the wheel of the culture of corruption.
And the Bush-bots fully support that amorality.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:33 pmmuch better headline, TP… thanks!
September 18th, 2007 at 3:43 pm…
And my foremost mission is to poke fun at the silly liberal ideals and by this Socratic method -Baghdad Bob
The Socratic method is one of inquiry and getting at the axioms of ones opinions or logic.
It does not surprise me that you do not wish to face the scrutiny of enquiry because it would show the lack or morals behind protecting the amoral behavior behind lemming psychology [group think]
September 18th, 2007 at 3:44 pmAccessory [to fraud] after the fact–prosecute him!
September 18th, 2007 at 3:54 pmIsn’t any of what Krongard did illegal? How can it not be?!
September 18th, 2007 at 3:54 pmIt certainly is immoral…
Krongard equals Krony Guard.
Krony Guard doesn’t care about our U.S. Constitution and upholding the “rule of law,” not while he’s busy guarding his crony pals.
The culture of corruption and deceit Republicans strike again.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:55 pm“…allegations from seven employees that he “has repeatedly interfered with on-going investigations to protect the State Department and the White House from political embarrassment.â€
busy guy!
September 18th, 2007 at 4:20 pmi bet he’d like to spend more time with his family.
In this environment someone needs to investigate spending on the President’s appearances and White House events overseas.
Pay particular attention to the hotel rooms, cars, and charges made by advance people sent by the White House on the State Department’s dime.
The Office of White House Travel Support Staff (Chief) should be your starting point — see page 7 of this document.
Remember the ramp that the White House tore up in France to provide a better photo op for Bush? Your wasted money.
The hookers? The cars? The extra meals? Your money too.
September 18th, 2007 at 4:26 pmFor the record, when Bush dissolves the Congress as Hitler dissolved the Reichstag, let me know.
For the record, when you start to care as much about this country, the Constitution, and the rule of law, as you do about caressing Bush’s buttocks, let us know. No rush.
September 18th, 2007 at 7:52 pmSTOP THE TRILLION DOLLAR WAR
THAT WAS STARTED BY
REPUBLICANS
September 18th, 2007 at 8:27 pmI wonder if he’s related to A.B. “Buzzy” Krongard, then Executive Director at the Central Intelligence Agency, who may have been involved in “put options” on United Airlines - related to 9/11.
September 18th, 2007 at 8:55 pmwhats new! Whats law to them? If this is true….Bush and co. could see no light at the end of their tunnel!
September 18th, 2007 at 10:01 pm