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Responding to the question, "Who is Eleanor Acheson?" last night, blogger Dan Riehl discovered an interesting tidbit:

According to an official looking page, Eleanor Acheson was, or is a paid lobbyist for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. (NRPC) She's listed from 2007 to the current calender year. Maybe I'm missing something, or there's another explanation for this, but why would a lobbyist be Amtrak's VP and legal counsel? . . .

Good question. Dan and I spoke by phone about this last night. NRPC is the actual corporate name for Amtrak. It appears that Acheson was being paid a few thousand a year to lobby the municipal government of New York City on behalf of Amtrak, in addition to her executive salary. Not necessarily a big scandal, just another fact that might raise questions, considering that Amtrak -- whose board of directors includes Hunter Biden, son of the vice president -- got $1.3 billion of "stimulus" money.

After I filed my special report about the Obama administration's evident purge of inspectors general, I learned a little more about the circumstances that led Amtrak IG Fred Wiederhold to resign suddenly last week. The professional staff of the Amtrak IG office is reportedly now "terrified" about their job security, because Amtrak put their human resources director in charge of the IG staff.

As I emphasized in the special report, there are now multiple investigations going on surrounding the administration's treatment of inspectors general -- at Amtrak, at AmeriCorps, at the International Trade Commission and also the special inspector general for the Troubled Assert Relief Program -- so please read the whole thing.

View all comments (13) | Leave a comment

Pingback| 6.25.09 @ 10:30AM

The Greenroom » Forum Archive » Now Multiple IG-Gate Investigations links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…sources are especially concerned that inquiries by Republican members of Congress should not be portrayed as a partisan “gotcha” game against the popular new president. . . . Expect the IG situation at Amtrak to make news in the near future, and investigations continue into the ousting of the IGs at AmeriCorps and International Trade Commission, but there’s another IG story I’m watching…

Pingback| 6.25.09 @ 9:26PM

Well, yes, I suppose we should be paying more attention to these political firings th links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…Yeah, good point. The firings (and potential underlying corruption behind them) are more important. So: There’s a Memeorandum thread ; Stacy wrote on the subject at American Spectator here and then more here Dan Riehl here. Those last two links are about somebody named Ellen Acheson, a muckety-muck with Amtrak, and what looks like a bunch of crisscrossing conflicts of interest. And So It Goes In Shreveport has…

Pingback| 6.26.09 @ 9:37AM

Moe Lane » The Report that triggered the Weiderhold ‘retirement.’ links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…General. Perhaps–just perhaps–an investigation of Amtrak’s relationship with its IG is in order. During the course of that investigation, we might wish to inquire why a paid lobbyist is the current vice president and legal counsel for Amtrak, and whether efforts to protect Amtrak from vigorous IG oversight have anything to do with the fact that the current Vice President of the United States is a longtime…

Pingback| 6.26.09 @ 9:40AM

The Report that triggered the Weiderhold ‘retirement.’ - Moe_Lane’s blog - RedState links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…General. Perhaps–just perhaps–an investigation of Amtrak’s relationship with its IG is in order. During the course of that investigation, we might wish to inquire why a paid lobbyist is the current vice president and legal counsel for Amtrak, and whether efforts to protect Amtrak from vigorous IG oversight have anything to do with the fact that the current Vice President of the United States is a longtime…

Pingback| 6.26.09 @ 9:40AM

The Report that triggered the Weiderhold ‘retirement.’ - Moe_Lane’s blog - RedState links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…General. Perhaps–just perhaps–an investigation of Amtrak’s relationship with its IG is in order. During the course of that investigation, we might wish to inquire why a paid lobbyist is the current vice president and legal counsel for Amtrak, and whether efforts to protect Amtrak from vigorous IG oversight have anything to do with the fact that the current Vice President of the United States is a longtime…

Pingback| 7.20.09 @ 8:06AM

Behind Closed Doors | America Watches Obama links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…Official’s Stonewall on IG Case July 1: Malkin on IG-Gate: Does the Endangered Species Act Include Watchdogs? June 26: Grassley: Amtrak ‘Systematically Violated’ IG Law June 25: Eleanor Acheson: Lobbyist June 25: Obama Plays Hardball With Watchdogs   June 23: Amtrak IG Probe: Who Is Eleanor Acheson?   June 19: IG-Gate: Domino Theory   June 18: AmeriCorps Scandal Won’t Go Away…

Pingback| 7.21.09 @ 4:55PM

The Greenroom » Forum Archive » IG-Gate UPDATE:Behind the Scenes of the Investigation links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…investigations. Making that report public June 25, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) charged that railroad officials – especially the legal department, under Amtrak vice president and general counsel Eleanor “Eldie” Acheson – had “ systematically violated the letter and spirit of the Inspector General Act,” through what appeared to be “unrelenting interference with the activities and operation” of the IG’s office. Four…

Pingback| 9.15.09 @ 11:35AM

The Greenroom » Forum Archive » IG-Gate Update: Questions on Capitol Hill links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…Official’s Stonewall on IG Case July 1: Malkin on IG-Gate: Does the Endangered Species Act Include Watchdogs? June 26: Grassley: Amtrak ‘Systematically Violated’ IG Law June 25: Eleanor Acheson: Lobbyist June 25: Obama Plays Hardball With Watchdogs June 23: Amtrak IG Probe: Who Is Eleanor Acheson? June 19: IG-Gate: Domino Theory June 18: AmeriCorps Scandal Won’t Go Away Soon Blowback Note…

pamela| 4.24.10 @ 7:37AM

I would still not like Cars that much if it featured a girl, after all.Download kesha mp3

pricila| 4.24.10 @ 9:10AM

Then the local station changed the time of the program and I couldn't listen. fax online

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More Blog Posts by Robert Stacy McCain

http://spectator.org/blog/2009/06/25/eleanor-acheson-lobbyist
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