Inspector of Projects in Iraq Under Investigation
By JAMES GLANZ
New York Times
A federal official whose investigations of waste and corruption in Iraq have repeatedly embarrassed the Bush administration is now being investigated himself by an oversight committee with close links to the White House and by the ranking Republican on the House Government Reform Committee.
The investigation of the official, Stuart W. Bowen Jr., originated with a complaint put together by roughly half a dozen former employees who appear to have left his office on unhappy terms, said several officials familiar with the case, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is still going on.
Both the White House and a spokesman for the Republican congressman, Thomas M. Davis III of Virginia, said yesterday that the investigations were not started in retribution for the work undertaken in Iraq by Mr. Bowen, who runs the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.
But the investigations are coming to light just a few months after Mr. Bowen’s office narrowly escaped what amounted to a termination clause tucked away in a large military authorization bill by staff members of another Republican congressman. A bipartisan group of lawmakers later managed to reverse that provision, but the latest action has renewed suspicions that Mr. Bowen — a Republican himself — has come to be seen as a serious political liability by his own party.
(Continued here.)
New York Times
A federal official whose investigations of waste and corruption in Iraq have repeatedly embarrassed the Bush administration is now being investigated himself by an oversight committee with close links to the White House and by the ranking Republican on the House Government Reform Committee.
The investigation of the official, Stuart W. Bowen Jr., originated with a complaint put together by roughly half a dozen former employees who appear to have left his office on unhappy terms, said several officials familiar with the case, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is still going on.
Both the White House and a spokesman for the Republican congressman, Thomas M. Davis III of Virginia, said yesterday that the investigations were not started in retribution for the work undertaken in Iraq by Mr. Bowen, who runs the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.
But the investigations are coming to light just a few months after Mr. Bowen’s office narrowly escaped what amounted to a termination clause tucked away in a large military authorization bill by staff members of another Republican congressman. A bipartisan group of lawmakers later managed to reverse that provision, but the latest action has renewed suspicions that Mr. Bowen — a Republican himself — has come to be seen as a serious political liability by his own party.
(Continued here.)
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