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.
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