Thursday, October 19, 2006

Republicans fire all 60 investigators of waste, fraud and abuse in appropriations

CQ: Facing Fed Probe, House GOP Spending Chief Axes Investigative Staff
By Justin Rood - October 19, 2006, 7:11 PM
House spending chief fires investigative staff

My goodness. As TPMm readers know well, House Appropriations chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) is under federal investigation for possible improprieties in how he oversaw Congress' spending of $900 billion annually. Yesterday, we reported that Lewis had dropped nearly $800,000 in legal fees to defend himself against the probe.

This evening, Congressional Quarterly reports (sub. req.) that in a round of calls Monday evening, Lewis fired 60 investigators who had worked for his committee rooting out fraud, waste and abuse, effective immediately. As in, don't bother coming in on Tuesday.

The investigators were contract workers, brought on to handle the extraordinary level of fraud investigations facing the panel. Sixteen permanent investigative staff are staying on, according to CQ. .......

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