Waxman: State Department IG tried to shield Bush administration from embarrassment

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) will investigate allegations that State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard “interfered with ongoing investigations to protect the State Department and the White House from political embarrassment.”

{mosads}Waxman, in a letter sent on Tuesday to Krongard, said seven “current and former” members of the State Department’s inspector general’s office had contacted his staff with complaints.

The lawmaker said that former assistant inspector general for investigations John DeDona and former deputy assistant inspector general Ralph McNamara both have contacted his office. Waxman added that both individuals resigned from their posts because Krongard “repeatedly halted or impeded investigations undertaken by their office.”

“One consistent element in these allegations is that you believe your foremost mission is to support the Bush administration, especially with respect to Iraq and Afghanistan, rather than act as an independent and objective check on waste, fraud and abuse on behalf of U.S. taxpayers,” Waxman wrote.

Among the complaints leveled against Krongard is that he has not sent any investigators to Iraq and Afghanistan to probe possible contract abuses.

In addition, according to Waxman, Krongard “impeded efforts by your investigators to cooperate with a Justice Department probe into allegations that a large private security contractor was smuggling weapons into Iraq.”

The lawmaker also alleges that the inspector general “interfered with an on-going investigation into the conduct of Kenneth Tomlinson, the head of Voice of America and a close associate of Karl Rove, by passing information about the inquiry to Mr. Tomlinson.”

Waxman is requesting that Krongard turn over relevant information and appear before his committee on Oct. 16.