April 24th, 2008 Guest Contributor
The sentencing of former Pentagon IG Chief Investigator Richard T. Race
By Douglas K. Kinan
In a well unpublicized case, “Richard T. Race, the Pentagon inspector general’s chief investigator of procurement fraud and official misconduct quit his job and pleaded guilty last month to violating U.S. banking laws.” Mr. Race was also a key member of the Defense Council on Integrity and Efficiency. The sentencing date for Mr. Race is May 2, 2008.
A March 18, 2008, Department of Defense Inspector General (DoD IG) Information Release, states, “The Office of Inspector General was not involved in the reporting or investigation of the matters underlying the recent judicial action and has no information that would suggest any relationship between those matters and Mr. Race’s official duties with the OIG.”
I disagree. Felony conduct is not about the person – it’s about felony conduct – and its related.
At his arraignment Judge Leonie Brinkema told Mr. Race that he should have “known better.” Mr. Race’s many years of experience in law enforcement and his actions demonstrate that his intent was clear. See the letter Mr. Kinan sent to Judge Brinkema.
As a former Department of Defense employee, after Mr. Race’s appointment I wrote to him requesting that the extensive and pervasive verified record of felony conduct and well planned discrimination by several officials at the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMAE), Boston, Massachusetts be investigated.
Concerning two, of many employees, who were framed and fired for violations that Mr. Race knew they did not commit, the Hotline Director, Mr. Leonard Trahan, Jr., (and eventually Mr. Race’s subordinate) writes, “There were two EEO cases in the District in which Mr. Kinan disagreed with the decisions made by Ms. Appleton and Mr. Krasker, the DCMDE Chief Counsel. Instead of accepting those decisions “as reasonable people can disagree”, they became a ‘cause celebre’ for Mr. Kinan.”
That the Hotline Director who is responsible for DoD fraud, waste and abuse would essentially admit that it is okay to frame innocent individuals, stand by and watch them anguish for many months (Virella was 60 months) and allow them to be stripped of their career and full pension and then justify felony conduct as a “cause celebre” is contrary to what the DoD Hotline does.
In a conflict of interest, Mr. Race’s second subordinate, Mr. James L. Pavlik, covered up for Mr. Trahan by conducting a fraudulent investigation, making false official statements and issuing a fraudulent report to Senator Charles Grassley.
Despite the unequivocal fact that Mr. Pavlik had a “specific and credible” record that innocent employees were framed, Mr. Pavlik wrote, “The analysis that concludes Mr. Kinan’s disclosure did not contain “specific and credible” information or did not meet the “substantial likelihood” test that it would be substantiated and was therefore not in the category of cases referable to the Defense Criminal Investigative Service…”
Mr. Race could have prevented the DCMAE from framing others. Instead, Mr. Race opted to shield his subordinates’ felony conduct. As I wrote to the DoD Inspector General, Claude Kicklighter, “Framing two innocent individuals is not just a simple matter of “two EEO cases” - it’s framing two innocent people.”
The DCMAE wasted more than one million taxpayer dollars to secretly settle these two threatened lawsuits that could expose their felony conduct, promotion fixing and program fraud in the millions of taxpayer dollars.
Mr. Race’s deliberate indifference to the conduct outlined in my thirty-page affidavit caused many innocent individuals permanent and immeasurable damage. Additionally, the ripple effect of fixed promotions essentially denies many DoD employees the opportunity to compete for merit-based promotions.
As evidence of the DCMAE’s continuing violations, Mr. Race also had knowledge of the DCMAE’s recent framing and fraudulent investigation of whistleblower, Mr. Kenneth Pedeleose, as can be verified by the October 24, 2007, United States Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) “Opinion and Order” reversing Pedeleose’s 30 day retaliatory suspension. See MSPB Docket No. AT-0752-06-0350-I-1.
The MSPB’s opinion and order breathes legitimacy into and corroborates the factual record that the DCMAE attorneys continue to insist on framing innocent citizens and conducting fraudulent investigations to sustain false and fabricated charges, using the same modus operandi each time.
Mr. Race’s insensitivity has no limits and knows no bounds – his deeds supersede his words. Anyone willing to frame an innocent person should not be taken seriously. It’s about the lowest act you can do.
At his sentencing hearing Mr. Race or his attorney will be asking the court for leniency and will offer the standard shibboleths routinely issued by defendants. There will be no one there to offset Mr. Race’s malice, lack of mercy, empathy or “remorse.” The court should not overlook Mr. Race’s willingness and propensity to permanently harm innocent individuals, their families and the government.
Mr. Race ignored the fact that many innocent individuals were framed, stripped of their career and full pension for violations he knew they did not commit and he condoned his subordinates’ chronic and systemic malfeasance.
Mr. Race was allowed to “take voluntary retirement” on February 16, 2008. Should Mr. Race, who admitted guilt, be allowed to collect his full pension when he knew that his subordinates consciously decided that innocent employees should not collect theirs?
Mr. Kinan is a former Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC) Specialist with the Defense Contract Management Agency, and he may be contacted as follows:
Douglas K. Kinan
DougKinan@yahoo.com
617-788-8330 - days
617-323-6171 - evenings
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Posted in Federal Government Whistleblower | No Comments »
March 10th, 2008 P. Jeffrey Black
As of March 10th, 2008 Ms. Hallstrom has not received a final decision from the EEOC Administrative Judge nor has she heard a final decision from Federal Division of Occupational Worker’s Compensation. Ms. Hallstrom is on medical leave without pay.
There have been additional EEO complaints filed against the managers in Ms. Hallstrom’s office by other Federal employees recently. You can read more of her story below.
December 9th, 2007,
To: Department of Labor, Federal OWCP Division
From: Tracy Hallstrom, Claim # 132183400
To whom it may concern;
My nameTracy Hallstrom. I have been employed with the Department of Interior-Bureau of Land Management, Redding, California Field office since December 1999. I work in Administration and Public Contact.
On May 9, 2005 as Class Agent representing 100% females in our office, filed an EEO Class complaint against our Field office manager case #LLM-05-030 alleging Gender Discrimination and Hostile Harassment work environment.
On May 31, 2005 myself and another employee filed individual complaints with the basis of reprisal and discrimination, case #BLM-05-0440.
On September 21, 2005 the Class complaint became individual consolidated complaints where as my case# was BLM-05-0390.
On June 2, 2005 myself and others filed individual whistleblower disclosures with the Office of Special Counsel and the Department of Interior-Office of Inspector General in Washington DC disclosing waste, fraud, abuse, Contract fraud, misappropriations of the French fire monies including other allegations as well as prohibited personnel practices.
Since filing protected activity, I have been reprized against and bullied by managers and supervisors in my office on a regular basis. I have had to seek counseling from a therapist to help me deal with the hostile work environment and the undue stress that has been placed upon me since filing. I have had to use all of my annual and sick leave due to declining health from my work environment and have used hundreds of hours of leave without pay.
My EEOC Hearing was April 24, 2007 and the AJ had 180 days to reach a final decision on my case.
It is now December 9, 2007 and still no decision which has increased the hostile work environment and my stress. I have been taken off work numerous of times for work stress related illnesses and even at the advice of my treating doctors and therapist advising me to quit. I was reprised against two weeks ago on November 26th and again on the 27th.
In the early hours of the 28th, I woke up with severe chest pains and found myself in the Emergency room being admitted for having a possible mild heart attack. I was fortunate that I had passed a stress test the next day and there were no signs of damage to my heart.
It was at that point I decided to take the advice of all the doctors, nursing staff and apply for Occupational Stress because I can no longer handle the stress working in a hostile work environment. It has affected my health in the negative.
I am the sole caregiver for my elderly parents as well. They are 80 and 90 years old and my stress from my work environment has affected the care that I give my parents because I have been ill as well because of my work situation.
Had the BLM State Director Mike Pool and his Associate State Director Jim Abbott stepped in when I emailed them on numerous occasions to put a stop to the harassment, retaliation, and made reasonable accommodations for me several months ago, I wouldn’t be ill as I am now.
My hearing transcripts will prove that I have been reprised against and that because the BLM didn’t take my allegations of depression and stress from my work environment seriously it has caused me to become ill and that I can no longer work in the BLM Redding field office.
Posted in Equal Employment Opportunity, Federal Government Whistleblower, Government Accountability Project, Government Corruption, OSC, Office of Personnel Management, PEER, Project on Government Oversight, Scott Bloch | 1 Comment »
February 19th, 2008 Traci Hallstrom
It’s President’s Day, in a presidential election year! Now more than ever, every American should know exactly what a president’s responsibilities are. Uncle Jay hopes that you learn about it somewhere, because this episode only helps a little.
Posted in Federal Government Whistleblower, Government Corruption, Uncle Jay Explains the News | No Comments »
February 18th, 2008 Joe Carson
February 18, 2008
Editorial
I recently filed a motion with the US Court of Appeals for DC Circuit, the Court cited in the NY TIMES editorial below, requesting it refer OSC attorneys responsible for OSC’s lawbreaking failure to protect me to their licensing board for misconduct investigations. This is based on OSC’s now uncontested failure to comply with aspects of its statutory duty to protect me, as determined by a decision of Federal District Court, which OSC is neither appealing nor taking action to correct. If OSC attorneys complied with their duties to protect concerned federal employees in EPA, perhaps EPA would not write such contrary to law regulations.
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NY TIMES
Editorial, Feb 18, 2008
Judicial Rebukes on Clean Air
The federal courts have been a bulwark against
the Bush administration’s relentless efforts to
weaken 40 years’ worth of environmental law,
including statutes protecting the nation’s
forests, wetlands and endangered species. The
courts have been especially important in
resisting the administration’s assault on the
1970 Clean Air Act, which began with Vice
President Dick Cheney’s 2001 energy report and continues to this day.
In 2006 and 2007, the United States Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia and the
Supreme Court ordered the Environmental
Protection Agency to follow the law and require
utilities to install pollution controls when
upgrading power plants. Another Supreme Court
decision last year held that the Clean Air Act
required the E.P.A. to regulate greenhouse gas
emissions from automobiles, an obligation the agency continues to duck.
This month, the D.C. Circuit ruled that the
E.P.A. had once again ignored the law by failing
to require deep and timely reductions in mercury
emissions from coal-fired power plants. Like most
clean air cases, this one was mind-numbingly
complex. The gist of it was that the E.P.A.
seeking as usual to please industry had
approved a weak set of regulations that would let
many plants off the hook for emissions reductions
that would be required under any honest reading of the law.
The D.C. Circuit, by no means a radical group of
judges, has become so exasperated that it has
taken to quoting Lewis Carroll. In 2006, in a
reference to “Through the Looking Glass,” the
court said that the E.P.A.’s reading of the law
would make sense “only in a Humpty Dumpty world.”
This month, invoking “Alice in Wonderland,” the
court said the agency’s reasoning recalled “the
logic of the Queen of Hearts, substituting the
E.P.A.’s desires for the plain text” of the law.
Desire still burns bright at the E.P.A., which
reportedly intends to make one last-ditch effort
to weaken the rules requiring new pollution
controls on upgraded plants. Our advice to the
agency would be to take a dispassionate look at
its losing streak in the federal courts and, for once, leave the law alone.
Posted in Federal Government Whistleblower, Government Corruption, OSC, Scott Bloch | No Comments »
