Bush, Doan And The Hatch Act
Consider this question a blast from the not-too-distant past:
What is happening to the recommendation by the U.S. Special Counsel that President Bush discipline General Services Administration chief Lurita Alexis Doan "to the fullest extent" over allegations she asked political appointees how they could "help our candidates" during a January meeting?
Doan, of course, oversees what is often described as the government's premier contracting operation. At issue is whether she violated the Hatch Act, which restricts executive branch employees from using their positions for political purposes. The president can take a range of actions, from rejecting the recommendations to dismissing Doan.
Readers of the Washington Post will recall that Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch sent off his recommendation in an edgy letter on June 8. In his missive he accused Doan of "engaging in the most pernicious of political activity" during a Jan. 26 lunch briefing involving 36 GSA appointees and featuring a presentation by the White House's deputy director of political affairs.
Bloch said Doan showed "a proclivity toward misrepresentation and obstructing an official investigation."
That's strong stuff. Doan has denied any wrongdoing, saying she did not organize the meeting and did not intend for any remarks to spur GSA appointees to become involved in the election.
A week earlier, in response to the special counsel's initial report on the matter, Doan's lawyer, Michael J. Nardotti Jr., took exception to the findings. He wrote, "It is clear that the conclusions of the OSC report are far off the mark and are based on tenuous inferences and careless leaps of logic." Nardotti said Bush should reject the report.
"Upon closer examination, one is hard-pressed to conclude that the Administrator solicited or induced her employees to engage in any political activity," Nardotti wrote.
Government Inc. wonders about this in part as a housekeeping matter. There's not been a peep from the White House in almost two months. Rest assured that's not because no one is asking. Inquiries have been diligently and gracefully fielded by spokesman Scott Stanzel. In each case, his answer has been a variation on a theme: Nothing to report.
Stanzel has assured me that he'll call when the president has decided what action, if any, to take in response to Bloch's recommendation.
I'm standing by.
By Robert O'Harrow |
August 7, 2007; 11:37 AM ET
GSA
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Posted by: AndreaC | August 7, 2007 8:31 PM
As irresponsible and careless as Ms. Doan is, many of her views on the deficiencies of the GSA procurement process - especially as it relates to Supply Schedule Contracts - is not far off the mark.
Posted by: FP Guru | August 11, 2007 9:39 AM
Apparently another political hack at GSA (the newly appointed Regional Administrator in Denver) announced at an all-hands meeting last week that she is considering the abolishment of the Federal Acquisition Service in her region. Probably just as well. Supposedly she is as unqualified for her position as Brownie was for his at FEMA so who knows what screw ups she would cause if she had to make any important contracting decisions.
Posted by: Myan Urbiznis | August 28, 2007 12:07 AM
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I'd like to see the Post look into those politicians listed on the slide at that meeting. Certainly the meeting didn't just say "thanks" to those loyal Bushies - as the proven liars claim - when they flashed a slide with names of incumbents on it. This is the slide of names that inspired Doan to ask "how we can help 'our' candidates." This slide lists local crooks Tom Davis and Thelma Drake of Virginia and Roscoe Bartlett of MD. The Post could find out information of how GSA and Doan helped these crooks with events, ceremonies, and news that is not available to us: file a Freedom of Information request for the calendars of these crooks to see how they were scheduled with GSA. Read more here.