IG Report Alleging Illicit, Unethical Behavior Within the Interior Department
September 10th, 2008 by KarinaThe AP reports:
Gov’t officials probed about illicit sex, gifts
Government officials handling billions of dollars in oil royalties engaged in illicit sex with employees of energy companies they were dealing with and received numerous gifts from them, federal investigators said Wednesday.
The alleged transgressions involve 13 Interior Department employees in Denver and Washington. Their alleged improprieties include rigging contracts, working part-time as private oil consultants, and having sexual relationships with - and accepting golf and ski trips and dinners from - oil company employees, according to three reports released Wednesday by the Interior Department’s inspector general.
Speaker Pelosi issued the following statement on the report released today by the Interior Department’s Inspector General:
The allegations of illicit and unethical behavior detailed in the inspector general’s report are directly related to the energy debate taking place in the Congress this week.
From the beginning of the Bush-Cheney Administration, the two oil men in the White House have looked for the interests of Big Oil instead of the energy needs of the American people.
Little did we know how cozy the relationship between Big Oil and the Administration’s regulators have been. This report documents the ‘pervasive culture of exclusivity’ that has cheated the American taxpayer out of billions of dollars owed them by the oil companies.
That is why the comprehensive Democratic energy bill not only expands domestic energy production, but also ensures that taxpayers receive a fair return from oil development, and that we end the public subsidies to companies enjoying record profits.
Our energy legislation will bring down gas prices, protect taxpayers, invest in clean renewable energy, and provide an American-owned energy policy that the Bush-McCain Republicans have failed to deliver for the past eight years.
Chairman Henry Waxman announced that the Oversight Committee will hold a hearing next Wednesday, September 17, 2008, at 10:00 a.m to examine the reports, saying:
The Administration’s energy policy has enriched oil companies at the expense of consumers, the environment, and our national security. It appears that the officials who are supposed to be looking out for the taxpayers have instead been corrupted by gifts from the oil companies and a culture of ethical failure.