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The Spectacle Blog

What Has Amtrak's Interim IG Been Up To?

By Robert Stacy McCain on 9.11.09 @ 6:55AM

Remember Fred Wiederhold, the Amtrak inspector general who retired abruptly in June? He was replaced by "interim" IG Lorraine Green, the head of human resources who has spent 12 years in management of the taxpayer-subsidized rail service -- and will return to management when her IG stint concludes.

"What kind of independence is that?" one Capitol Hill source said of Green's anomalous position as temporary head of the IG office.

In her "interim" role, Green has reportedly hired three consultants to prepare a report about the Amtrak IG's office. According to someone familiar with the contract, each of the consultants is paid $140 per hour, and limited to a maximum of $75,000 each for three months of work, due to conclude at the end of this month.

Michelle Malkin reports in her latest syndicated column that Amtrak has effectively neutered its "Office of Security Strategy and Special Operations" -- a special passenger-rail ant-terrorism security task force:

According to multiple government sources who declined to be identified for fear of retribution, OSSSO's East Coast and West Coast teams have not worked in a counterterrorism capacity since the summer. Their long arms were put under lock and key after the abrupt departures of Amtrak Vice President for Security Strategy and Special Operations Bill Rooney and Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold.

Read the whole thing. The "fear of retribution" part is what's disturbing. My own sources tell me that career staffers in the Amtrak IG office are very afraid of Green.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) has tasked his staff to investigate the apparent pattern of pressure against inspectors generals, at Amtrak, Americorps, the International Trade Commission and "SIGTARP" Neil Barofsky, whose job is to watchdog the TARP bailout funds. Grassley's staff now have reportedly finished the main part of their investigation and are expected to prepare a report to be delivered later this fall.

PREVIOUSLY:

Aug. 7: Senators Seek Answer From ITC About IG
July 28: IG-Gate Update: 'No Doubt' Political Pressure Led to His Firing,Walpin Says
July 26: SIGTARP Neil Barofsky vs. Geithner's 'Black Hole' Bailout
July 24: IG-Gate: Why the Matsui Question Matters
July 23: IG-Gate Update: Did Dem Congresswoman Intervene With Obama in Walpin Case?
July 22: SIGTARP Barofsky Shows Why Watchdogs Are Important
July 21: IG-Gate: Democratic Staffers 'Useless' in Investigations, SayRepublicans
July 20: IG-Gate: Connecting the SIGTARP Dots
July 20: Behind Closed Doors
July 17: Amtrak IG: Important Background
July 14: IG-Gate: Sincere Doubts
July 14: The Little Scandal That Could
July 9: Democrats Question AmeriCorps 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

View all comments (8) | Leave a comment

MikeN| 9.11.09 @ 7:52AM

I'd rather Amtrak not have an anti-terrorism office. I don't want to have to show idea and go thru security to get on a train.

dad29| 9.11.09 @ 8:59AM

Seems to me that Amtrak Terrorist Teams could be called The Redundancy Limited.

That's a lot of dollars spent, considering there IS Homeland "Security," the FBI, the Secret Service, and some reasonably sophisticated local and State agencies, too.

TennesseeVolunteer| 9.11.09 @ 9:26AM

History will not be kind to us if we do not change our ways very, very soon.
Ayn rand didn't even dream how bad the corruption could be in our government.
Who would have dreamed that our President would tell us that up is down and down is up!
We are ever so close to having more voters who are takers, instead of producers.
What will you be doing tomorrow? On 9-12!
What kind of representative do you want in 2010? Small government or nanny state?
Are you a free man or a ward of the state?

Tim| 9.11.09 @ 9:43AM

In ten years your hospital, your doctor will be AMTRAK. Sleep tight...

sam| 9.11.09 @ 10:34PM

osoooobad! Waste of our tax dollars! You all recieved brand new SUV's with the budget money.1 Osooobad officer's pay =3 new amtrak officer's. Osooobad spends 80% of wk week at a range or some sort of training. Whos at the stations? If an attack. you'll be there after its all over cause you'll be training.

Richard Baker| 9.12.09 @ 8:03PM

Close Amtrak. It's just another governmental, money losing, and bureaucratically inept waste of time. If not for the subsidy, this turkey would have died years ago. Good riddance when that occurs.

af| 12.7.09 @ 10:21AM

Grassley's staff now have reportedly finished the main part of their investigation and are expected to prepare a report to be delivered later this fall.

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