Senators: FDA Pulled Reviewer Off Glaxo Drug
From Reuters
Excerpt: A senior Food and Drug Administration scientist has told congressional investigators that the FDA removed him or her from work on GlaxoSmithKline Plc's drug Avandia after voicing concerns about the safety of the diabetes pill, two senators said on Tuesday.

The unnamed FDA medical officer at one time was the primary reviewer for Avandia, according to a letter sent to the FDA by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat, and Sen. Charles Grassley, the panel's top Republican.

The scientist has believed since 2005 that there was enough evidence for a strong "black box" warning on Avandia about a risk of congestive heart failure, the senators said.

In a statement titled "Senators reveal effort by the FDA to suppress scientific dissent and downplay safety concerns" released with their letter, they said the reviewer was "sidelined after voicing safety concerns" about Avandia.
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Labels: corruption, FDA

Former Officer Sentenced for Kickbacks
From AP via the Houston Chronicle
Excerpt: A former U.S. Army Reserve officer was sentenced to nearly two years in prison Monday for helping steer millions of dollars in Iraq-reconstruction contracts in exchange for jewelry, computers, cigars and sexual favors.

Lt. Col. Bruce D. Hopfengardner, 46, of Fredericksburg, Va., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud last year. He served as a special adviser to the U.S.-led occupation forces, recommending funding for projects on law enforcement facilities in Iraq.

Hopfengardner was sentenced to 21 months in prison, fined $144,500 and ordered to serve three years of probation.

He admitted conspiring with Philip H. Bloom, a U.S. citizen with businesses in Romania, and Robert J. Stein Jr., a former Defense Department contract official, to create a corrupt bidding process that included the theft of $2 million in reconstruction money.
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Labels: contractors, corruption, iraq

Contracting head illegally political
From USA Today
Excerpt: The head of the main federal contracting agency, a longtime GOP supporter, should be "punished to the fullest extent" for violating a ban on political advocacy on government time, a watchdog agency concluded.

The Office of Special Counsel, in a letter to President Bush released late Monday, said General Services Administrator Lurita Doan engaged in "the most pernicious of political activity" banned by the 1939 Hatch Act when she asked, at a meeting of General Services Administration political appointees, how they could help Republican candidates.

Doan‘s attorney, in a June 1 response to Bloch also released Monday, rejected the office‘s conclusions, saying Doan was only peripherally involved in the January 26 PowerPoint presentation by a senior White House political adviser at GSA headquarters on helping Republicans in coming elections.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said they had received the Bloch letter and it was under review. The White House previously acknowledged conducting about 20 meetings over the past several years for federal employees on GOP election prospects while insisting that such informational briefings are neither unlawful nor unusual.
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Labels: agency, corruption, politics

Fired Attorney was Investigating CIA Corruption
From US News & World Report
Excerpt: On May 11, 2006, Kyle Sampson, then chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, sent a confidential E-mail to the White House counsel's office regarding the "removal and replacement" of U.S. attorneys whose four-year terms had expired, including the U.S. attorney in San Diego, Carol Lam: "The real problem we have right now with Carol Lam," Sampson wrote, "that leads me to conclude that we should have someone ready to be nominated on 11/18, the day her 4-year term expires."

So what was the "real problem" that Sampson thought the administration had with Lam?

U.S. News has learned that on May 10, one day before Sampson's E-mail to the White House counsel's office, the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego alerted the Justice Department that the FBI would execute search warrants in two days for the No. 3 official at the CIA, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, in connection with the spiraling corruption probe into former Republican Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham of California.

Now Democratic members of Congress want to know whether that alert triggered Sampson's E-mail and whether Lam's firing and those of seven other federal prosecutors were politically motivated. Sampson's E-mail, sent one day after the alert, raises serious questions as to whether the CIA tried to intervene in a politically charged investigation and tried to get Lam fired. More

Labels: Alberto Gonzales, CIA, corruption

Ties to GOP Trumped Know-How Among Staff Sent to Rebuild Iraq
From the Washington Post
Excerpt: After the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in April 2003, the opportunity to participate in the U.S.-led effort to reconstruct Iraq attracted all manner of Americans -- restless professionals, Arabic-speaking academics, development specialists and war-zone adventurers. But before they could go to Baghdad, they had to get past Jim O'Beirne's office in the Pentagon. ...

...O'Beirne's staff posed blunt questions to some candidates about domestic politics: Did you vote for George W. Bush in 2000? Do you support the way the president is fighting the war on terror? Two people who sought jobs with the U.S. occupation authority said they were even asked their views on Roe v. Wade .

Many of those chosen by O'Beirne's office to work for the Coalition Provisional Authority, which ran Iraq's government from April 2003 to June 2004, lacked vital skills and experience. A 24-year-old who had never worked in finance -- but had applied for a White House job -- was sent to reopen Baghdad's stock exchange. The daughter of a prominent neoconservative commentator and a recent graduate from an evangelical university for home-schooled children were tapped to manage Iraq's $13 billion budget, even though they didn't have a background in accounting.

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Labels: agency, bush, corruption, CPA, gop, iraq, reconstruction

ATF Director Resigns Amid Spending Probe
From
Excerpt: The director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced his resignation yesterday, six months after the launch of an internal investigation into questionable spending on a new headquarters and other items during his tenure.

Carl J. Truscott, a 22-year veteran of the Secret Service who took over as ATF chief in 2004, was under fire for his spending and management practices at a time when the agency was considering sharp cuts in the number of new cars, bulletproof vests and other basics it provides agents. ...

...Sources familiar with the project told The Washington Post earlier this year that Truscott planned to buy, among other things, nearly $300,000 in extras for the new director's suite, including a $65,000 conference table and more than $100,000 worth of hardwood floors, custom trim and other items.

These sources described Truscott as overly focused on the building's details, from soap dishes to tile colors, and said he wasted valuable time with innumerable project meetings and field trips to the site.

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Labels: agency, atf, corruption, spending

Ex-official's firm receiving VA fees
From the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
Excerpt: A California company headed by former Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi could get fees exceeding $1 billion from the Veterans Affairs, much of it on contracts approved and amended while he ran the agency, records show. ...
...During his tenure as VA secretary, Principi's past and future corporate home in Diamond Bar, Calif., collected about $246 million in fees, according to VA records. And Congressional Budget Office projections show that the VA contracts could be worth as much as $1.2 billion to QTC if fully funded by Congress through 2008.

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From the Contra Costa Times: A QTC hearing exam, for instance, averaged $495.55 compared to $89.80 for an in-house exam. Even with an adjustment for possible hidden VA costs, the difference exceeded 400 percent. For a general medical exam, QTC's average cost was $393.52 compared to a VA average of $225.58, the consultants found...
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Labels: agency, contractors, corruption, spending, veterans

The Jack Abramoff Picture Show
An extremely sordid tale, even for Washington.

Labels: abramoff, corruption

Former Bush Administration Official Charged
From Fox News
Excerpt: A former Bush administration official was arrested Monday on charges he made false statements and obstructed a federal investigation into his dealings with lobbyist Jack Abramoff ...
David Safavian, then-chief of staff of the General Services Administration and a former Abramoff lobbying associate, concealed from federal investigators that Abramoff was seeking to do business with GSA when Safavian joined him on a golf trip to Scotland in 2002, according to an FBI affidavit and the officials. More

Labels: abramoff, corruption