Lurita Doan and the Hortatory Subjunctive Defense

While the Justice Department investigation has attracted most of our attention, chugging along in parallel is sad case of Lurita Doan, GSA administrator. You will recall back in March we reported on the Hatch Act violating brown bag lunch she sponsored at the GSA. Much has happened in the months since. Most notably Ms. Doan has been interviewed by the Office of Special Counsel. The Washington Post's Steven Barr reports that

In testimony taken by the special counsel, Doan implied that the witnesses were biased against her, according to the report. "There's not a single one of those who did not have somewhere in between a poor to totally inferior performance," the report quotes Doan as saying.

At another point, the report quotes Doan as saying that some of the GSA appointees are "people I've either moved on or they are, I don't want to say permanently demoted but they're kind of, until extensive rehabilitation of their performance occurs, they will not be getting promoted and they will not be getting bonuses or special awards or anything of that nature."

During her March appearance Ms. Doan seemed to be suffering from the same memory illness afflicting senior Justice Department officials. She must have changed medications because her memory is greatly improved. Yesterday she chose the grammarian defense. She claimed she was using the hortatory subjunctive when she said

Until extensive rehabilitation of their performance occurs, they will not be getting promoted and will not be getting bonuses or special awards or anything of that nature.

What follows is an exchange between Doan and Rep. John Tierney (D-MA). It is typical of Doan's testimony. Notice the references to her problems with tense and personal pronouns. Doan graduated from Vassar with a degree in English (with honors) and has a masters in Renaissance literature.



At the end of the hearing Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) sums up the record and calls on Doan to resign. If you listen carefully you can hear Doan snicker in the background. Tell me she doesn't hold Congress in contempt.

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Shorter Dana Perino-The Hatch Act Doesn't Apply To Republicans

Talking Points Memo has posted an interesting transcript from this morning's White House News Gaggle.

Reporter: How about this political interference with the Hatch Act?
Dana Perino: There wasn't political interference within the Hatch Act. What you're talking about is --

Reporter: Use of the government agencies?

Perino: It is perfectly lawful for the political appointees at the White House to provide informational briefings to political appointees at the agencies. No laws were broken, and we provided more information about that last night.

Reporter: Was that all vetted through the Counsel's Office prior to those sorts of sessions happening? What sort of oversight was done within the White House?

Perino: Yes, generally -- because it's not unlawful and it wasn't unusual for informational briefings to be given. They were run by Sara Taylor and Scott Jennings.

Reporter: But there's a higher standard, obviously, at the White House than no laws were broken. Aren't there ethical questions, as well?

Perino: There were no -- what ethical (rules) would have been broken?

Reporter: No, in terms of using federal resources, federal people to encourage people. The allegation is out there that people were being encouraged to help Republicans.

Reporter #2: And targeting certain Democrats --

Perino: There is no prohibition under the Hatch Act of allowing political appointees to talk to other political appointees about the political landscape in which they are trying to advance the President's agenda. None.

Reporter: You say it's not a violation of the Hatch Act.

Perino: Not a violation of law, or of ethics.

Reporter: So why is the Office of Special Counsel investigating it, if you're still saying that it's clearly fine, why would they be investigating?

Perino: You'll have to ask them. You'll have to ask them.

For starters the Hatch Act doesn't talk about political appointees. It talks about employees who may engage in partisan political activities and those who can't. Political appointees can engage in partisan political activities, but their participation is limited. A publication of the Office of Special Counsel says they may not

*use official authority or influence to interfere with an election
*solicit or discourage political activity of anyone with business before their agency
*solicit or receive political contributions (may be done in certain limited situations by federal labor or other employee organizations)
*be candidates for public office in partisan elections
*engage in political activity while:
on duty
in a government office
wearing an official uniform
using a government vehicle
wear partisan political buttons on duty

These briefings were given at government offices. That they were more than informational was clearly established at the Doan hearing last month. You can see the video here. A legal memo from The Congressional Research Service on the issue is clear. Political activities may not be conducted by any Federal employee while on duty or at a government office. I guess if you look a little like Cameron Diaz you think you can lie and reporters will believe you. The Special Counsel might not conduct a real investigation of this mess, but a real investigation is warranted.

Update: I was not entirely accurate when I said political activities may not be conducted by any Federal employee while on duty or at a government office. The Hatch Act does allow the President and Vice President, certain Presidential aids and a limited number of political employees (generally cabinet officers or others whose appointment was confirmed by the Senate)to participate in political activities while on duty or at government facilities. However, most of the political employees attending Parino's coffee clatches were not members of the limited class. Moreover, criminal penalties apply to supervisors who are overtly coercive in demanding subordinate Federal empolyees participate in political activities. 18 USC 610. If Doan said to her suborinates, "You will attend the Scott Jennings brown bag" that statement might be considered a command and she might be liable criminally.

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Karl Rove's Shop Conducted Briefings At 15 Agencies

The Washington Post's R. Jeffrey Smith reports that last year Karl Rove's office

conducted 20 private briefings on Republican electoral prospects in the last midterm election for senior officials in at least 15 government agencies covered by federal restrictions on partisan political activity, a White House spokesman and other administration officials said yesterday.

The previously undisclosed briefings were part of what now appears to be a regular effort in which the White House sent senior political officials to brief top appointees in government agencies on which seats Republican candidates might win or lose, and how the election outcomes could affect the success of administration policies, the officials said.

As you may recall earlier this month the Office of General Counsel launched an investigation into allegations that General Services Administration chief Lurita Doan violated the Hatch Act by conducting one such briefing at her agency.

Of course, Doan is but another sad victim of partial memory loss epidemic among loyal Bushies appearing before Congress. Known as "Alberto Gonzales' Disease" this terrible malady affects loyal Bushies like Doan, D. Kyle Sampson, and Gonzales who have had recent contact with Karl Rove and J. Scott Jennings. This tragic disease targets the memories of otherwise normal public officials depriving them of the ability to recall events occurring during their official duties.

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Must See Video

You absolutely have to look at the video of
General Services Administration Chief Lurita Doan as she is cut to ribbons by Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA). Apparently she had Scott Jennings in for a brown bag lunch to talk to her people about "team building." The evidence Waxman's committee has uncovered should put her in Club Fed for violations of the Hatch Act. Her answers in the clip show her using the Scooter Libby defense. We all know how that worked out for Scooter.

UPDATE: A review of the US Office of Special Counsel's Offical Hatch Act for Federal Employees website clearly demonstrates that Lurita Doan and Scott Jennings violated the Hatch Act. Unfortunately the Penalties for Violating the Hatch Act are as follows:

An employee who violates the Hatch Act shall be removed from their position, and funds appropriated for the position from which removed thereafter may not be used to pay the employee or individual. However, if the Merit Systems Protection Board finds by unanimous vote that the violation does not warrant removal, a penalty of not less than 30 days' suspension without pay shall be imposed by direction of the Board.

If Ms Doan goes away for her performance it will be for perjury or misleading congress.

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All roads lead to Rove: Part II in a continuing series

The Washington Post reports in the Monday edition that Congressman Waxman’s Oversight Committee has summoned GSA (Government Services Administration) Administrator Lurita Alexis Doan to answer questions about some events that transpired on Jan. 26, where she and J. Scott Jennings, a deputy in Karl Rove's political affairs office at the White House joined in a videoconference with top GSA political appointees, and it was discussed how Republican candidates could be assisted.

When Jennings concluded his presentation to the GSA political appointees, Doan allegedly asked them how they could "help 'our candidates' in the next elections," according to a March 6 letter to Doan from Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Waxman said in the letter that one method suggested was using "targeted public events, such as the opening of federal facilities around the country."

On Wednesday, Doan is scheduled to appear before Waxman's committee to answer questions about the videoconference and other issues. The committee is investigating whether remarks made during the videoconference violated the Hatch Act, a federal law that restricts executive-branch employees from using their positions for political purposes. Those found in violation of the act do not face criminal penalties but can be removed from their jobs.

Waxman said in the letter that the remarks made during the videoconference have been confirmed by "multiple sources." Congressional investigators have taken statements from GSA employees and others in recent weeks.

The planned hearing is part of an expanding examination by Waxman's committee of Doan's tumultuous 10-month tenure as administrator of the GSA. The government's leading procurement agency annually handles about $56 billion worth of federal contracts.

Jennings's name has recently surfaced in investigations of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys around the country. He communicated with Justice Department officials concerning the appointment of Tim Griffin, a former Rove aide, as U.S. attorney in Little Rock, according to e-mails released this month. For that exchange, Jennings, although working at the White House, used an e-mail account registered to the Republican National Committee, where Griffin had worked as a political opposition researcher.

Jennings is a longtime political operative from Kentucky. He served as political director for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in 2002 before joining the White House. After Jennings and Doan spoke during the videoconference, one regional GSA administrator offered the suggestion that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) could be excluded from the opening of an environmentally efficient federal courthouse in San Francisco, which Pelosi represents, according to Waxman's letter. GSA manages the nation's federal courthouses. (emphasis mine)

But it doesn’t stop there…

It also seems apparent that Doan engaged in other impropriety as well. For instance, she spent an inordinate amount of time attempting to give a no-bid contract to a friend of hers who steered her through her confirmation process to assume the directorship of GSA.

Waxman's investigation began in response to a Jan. 19 story in The Washington Post about a no-bid job Doan tried to give to firms run by Edie Fraser, a veteran Washington public relations executive who had served as a paid consultant to Doan. Waxman's investigators concluded that the two women had "a long-standing business relationship" that was not "previously disclosed," according to Waxman's letter.

Between 2003 and 2005, Fraser billed Doan as much as $20,000 a month in consulting fees to "generally promote attributes" of Doan and her company, New Technology Management Inc., according to invoices obtained by The Post. In all, Doan paid at least $417,500 to companies affiliated with Fraser before Doan took over the GSA, according to Waxman's investigators.

Last year, Fraser helped prepare Doan for her GSA confirmation and lined up political support for her, according to interviews and e-mails obtained by The Post.

On July 25, two months after Doan took office, she took the unusual step of personally signing the no-bid arrangement with Diversity Best Practices and Business Women's Network, firms then run by Fraser, to produce a report about GSA's use of businesses owned by minorities or women. The GSA's general counsel at the time, Alan R. Swendiman, told Waxman's investigators he was "alarmed" that the project was not competitively bid.

Last month, in a letter to Waxman's committee, a senior GSA official called the no-bid arrangement a "procedural mistake." Doan told The Post that she submitted a service order for the work through normal GSA contracting channels and did not focus on it afterward.

But Swendiman, now a special assistant to President Bush, told Waxman's investigators that he "immediately and repeatedly" advised Doan to terminate the arrangement. When he was unable to persuade her, Swendiman directed a GSA contracting officer to terminate the arrangement. The investigators found evidence indicating that Doan continued to try to find ways to award the project to her friend.

So it isn’t just the Department of Justice – it’s the General Services Administration as well – the nations checkbook – that has been corrupted by the tentacles of Karl Rove and his political machinations.

There is nothing sacred to these people. Indeed, those of us who hold sacred ideals seem contemptible to these people. Thankfully, their day seems just about done.

.

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