GSA Chief Grilled on GOP Slide Show (Hatch Act breach)

[intaglio]

With thanks to TPM

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002896.php
Warning, this link has been Farked so there may be delays

/Snip ... In this clip, Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) grills her on a PowerPoint presentation (pdf) given by Karl Rove's deputy Scott Jennings to GSA personnel in January. The slides (13 pages) detailed which seats were "House Targets" and which "Senate Targets", which states were "Republican Offense," and which "Republican Defense." After the presentation, Doan reportedly asked other employees how the agency could help "our candidates." The GSA, remember, is the government's procurement agency, in charge of almost $60 billion each year. All of this seems like a clear violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits using federal resources to aid political parties.

Also at Think Progress http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/28/rove-powerpoint-doan/

on edit Main thread is here http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=528599&mesg_id=528599

My Bad

[BlueManDude]

1. I couldn't believe the extent to which Rep. Davis (R-VA) was defending her

at one point he said something like "I'm sure they'll try to pin some kind of genocide" on Doan. All the while sipping from agiant soft drink thru a straw. Really weird.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

2. And not one mention was made on tv news last night. Rove is in big trouble

and he can help thank Rep Davis for throwing him under the bus to protect Doans.

[Sherman A1]

3. I watched part of it

The young lady seemed woefully uniformed and unprepared to answer any questions.

[trof]

4. Buh-bye, Lurita.

Woops, I forgot.
The WH OWNS GSA AND the DOJ.
nevermind

[Marie26]

7. Yeah.

The "Office of Special Counsel" is the agency that investigates & punishes violations of the Hatch Act. Waxman mentioned that they are referring the evidence to that agency. Big deal. Bush has also appointed a political hack to head this agency as well. That's why Lurita was so smug during the hearing - she knows that she won't ever be prosecuted for the federal crimes she committed.

Office of Special Counsel

Since Scott Bloch was confirmed as head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), GAP has learned of numerous whistleblowers that filed disclosures and complaints with the OSC, only to get no response whatsoever. GAP's goal is to alert Congress that OSC is not fulfilling its mission.

On Tuesday, May 23, 2005 GAP took a major step toward reaching that goal in a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Oversight Subcommittee hearing, during which Bloch testified about his agency's recent conduct. This included answering questions regarding his retaliation against OSC investigators who themselves blew the whistle on case-dumpings that plague the agency. Many senators had harsh words and tough questions for Bloch, who was forced to answer to legislators for removing important employment discrimination information from the OSC Web site.

http://www.whistleblower.org/template/page.cfm?page_id=122

http://www.osc.gov/

Tania Branigan reported in the July 21, 2003, Washington Post that the backlog of whistleblower cases was growing:

"Hundreds of whistleblower complaints about waste, fraud and abuse in government are going unexamined, with the backlog of cases at the Office of Special Counsel more than doubling in the past 18 months, according to newly obtained figures.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Office_of_Special_Counsel

This is the exact same thing Lurita Doan was doing at GSA - silencing & suppressing anyone who complained about the rampant fraud and waste. The OSC is just as corrupt as the GSA. When corruption permeates every level of government like this, there is no accountability or justice left.

[Venus Dog]

5. This is soooo good and Braley was wonderful!

Kept right on the mark the entire time! This, together with the emails on the RNC server, could lead to the Perfect Storm the bushies! Imagine if they found all the evidence on those servers for the 2000 and 2004 robberies as well:bounce:

[annabanana]

6. That was breathtaking!!. . BIG k&r here..

Everyone who has a couple of minutes, PLEASE watch this. This is the kind of damage that is being done to the professional civil service.... the CAREER civil servents... all over the government under this administration.

She is too small a fish to make it to the national news radar. . too small, perhaps even for Keith or Jon Stewart.. BUT IT IS VITAL to understand how deep the rot has permeated the system...

[annabanana]

8. I'm kicking again, and looking for recs..

[Robbien]

9. She issued a press release on the committee hearing

which said she informed the committee about her goals.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-28-2007/0004555424&EDATE=

"Bold new leadership was what the President wanted. That's exactly what
he got at GSA," said Administrator Doan, speaking before the House
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "It will be my firm intent to
continue to push: To ask questions, to encourage new thinking and to urge
continued fiscal discipline. Great progress has already been made to
streamline processes and improve efficiencies of all GSA operations and
American taxpayers have reaped the rewards."
Invited to speak before the committee to address questions about the
agency's management, Administrator Doan spoke in detail regarding a report
GSA sought for its work with minority and disadvantaged small businesses;
the nature of a regularly scheduled team-building "brown bag" lunch with
non- career employees; successful contract extension negotiations between
contract experts in GSA's Federal Acquisition Service and Sun Microsystems;
GSA actions affecting the accounting industry; and her actions regarding
GSA's Office of the Inspector General.
"I was sincerely happy for this opportunity to address the committee's
questions," said Administrator Doan following her testimony to the
committee. "I was able to set the record straight, to put forward the great
work we do here at GSA and in the process tell our story -- just what this
agency is doing to serve the American people."

She believes she did nothing wrong. Doesn't even recognize there are any problems.

[efhmc]

10. Watched last night and was AMAZED at the audacity of the "butter would

not melt in my mouth" and "I honestly (used the word about 50 times) don't remember" hard core political hack republican. Sure, right. R&K.

[The Count]

11. here are the visuals you need here (distribute widely)

(actual slides at the hearing)