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Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ish who wrote (61141)	9/30/1999 12:10:00 PM
From: DMaA	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 67261

Remember the little item about the Fish and Wildlife service trying to use funds to support anti hunting/fishing groups? Tip of the iceberg: Interior Computer Files Reportedly Destroyed Before Probe By Ben Anderson CNS Staff Writer 29 September, 1999 (CNSNews.com) - What began as a Congressional investigation of spending abuses by the US Fish and Wildlife Service may be expanded to include obstruction of justice charges after an agency employee testified that she was ordered to destroy computer files and told that her career would be in jeopardy if she cooperated with federal investigators. The surprise testimony on Wednesday came the same day the House Resources Committee met to decide whether to subpoena Assistant Interior Department Secretary Donald Barry to find out how the Fish and Wildlife Service, a division of the Interior Department, misused federal funds. "This investigation started out as simply an inquiry into how fish and wildlife conservation funds were being spent," said Resource Committee Chairman Don Young (R-AK). "It now appears that the situation at the Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of Interior is rotten to the core." Bonnie Kline, an eight-year Fish and Wildlife Service employee, testified that her superiors ordered her not to cooperate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation or other federal investigators, including the Resources Committee investigation. Kline also testified that she was instructed to destroy computer files dating from October 1997 through January 1998 - files which she said are now missing. Kline said that after refusing to destroy the files, she lost her security clearance and the combination to her safe, which stored the files, was changed. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel and a private attorney are now representing Kline against the Fish and Wildlife Service. Young reacted to Kline's testimony with a warning to any future attempts to conceal evidence from the Committee's investigation. "Any Fish and Wildlife Service or Interior Department employee who destroys any additional records will be held in Contempt of Congress and face felony charges," Young said. "Any Department of Interior official who ordered such actions will be held accountable." James Beers, a 31-year Fish and Wildlife Service employee, also testified before the Resources Committee that he was forced out of his job because he differed with his superiors at the agency over whether to approve a request for grant money for The Fund for Animals. Beers' involvement in the negotiation of an international agreement concerning humane trapping standards also contributed to his ousting, according to the US Office of Special Counsel, which is representing Beers in his legal battles. The Special Counsel represented Beers against the Fish and Wildlife Service for violations of federal personnel regulations and won a settlement of $150,000, restoration of payment for annual leave, payment of his attorney fees, and a letter of apology from the Fish and Wildlife Service for its actions against him. Kline's revelations came when the Committee met to consider allowing its investigators to subpoena Assistant Interior Secretary Donald Barry since previous attempts to compel him to testify were unsuccessful. Committee Members voted largely along party lines to subpoena Barry to force his testimony about alleged "waste, fraud and abuse" of conservation funds." The only Member to break ranks with Committee Democrats to vote for the subpoena was Rep. Owen Picket (D-VA). "Every committee in Congress with oversight responsibility must have the ability to get the information it needs to carry out its oversight duties," Picket told CNSNews.com. "This is particularly true where an entity such as GAO has provided alarming and disturbing testimony of intentional misconduct by federal government officials and the agency involved refuses to be forthcoming in its communications to the committee," Picket added. General Accounting Office Associate Director Barry Hill outlined a number of problems his investigators encountered during an eight-month investigation of the Interior Department's spending habits. Under questioning from Committee Members, Hill testified that the agency played a "shell game" with funds and that "this is one of the worst managed programs we have encountered." Young has become increasingly frustrated with Barry's reluctance to appear before the committee and suggested Barry is manipulating his travel schedule to avoid testifying. "We will not allow him to hide from this investigation," Young said. "He's known about this hearing for more than two months and his efforts to create a travel schedule so that he can't appear this Wednesday is unacceptable. He will appear and he will answer these allegations." Young said Barry has "repeatedly dismissed my requests" to appear before the committee. "As the person with oversight of these funds, his appearance is vital in our efforts to find answers to these alarming allegations." Interior Spokesperson Stephanie Hanna told CNSNews.com that Young is "over reacting" to Barry's schedule and added that the Assistant Secretary had scheduled a meeting "weeks in advance" in Montana. Hanna said Barry has not expressed any unwillingness to testify before the Resources Committee. The Interior Department is also under congressional scrutiny for allegations of political partisanship involving the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a US territory in the Pacific. US Fish and Wildlife Service representatives have not returned CNSNews.com's repeated phone calls for comments on the committee's investigation or Kline's allegations. conservativenews.org\Politics\archive\199909\POL19990929l.html