Notes For Tuesday, November 26, 2002

The Post-Election Surprises Keep Coming - Bush Audit Scandal - Will This Also Be Swept Under The Carpet?

AP reports that "Florida pension fund audit delayed after governor's office call":

"At the request of Gov. Jeb Bush's office, the inspector general of the Health and Human Services Department ordered delays in a federal audit of Florida's pension fund that ensured the review wouldn't be completed before Bush won re-election, officials say.

The delays by Janet Rehnquist, daughter of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, are now being investigated by Congress.

A former Rehnquist deputy, who recently retired, told The Associated Press he couldn't recall another case during his quarter-century career with the watchdog agency in which an inspector general intervened personally to postpone an audit.
...
Hirst, the spokeswoman for Jeb Bush, said the governor's chief of staff, Kathleen Shanahan, called to request a delay on April 15, the day the audit was supposed to have started.

A top aide to Rehnquist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Shanahan described her request as urgent and asked Health and Human Services officials to get the message to Rehnquist, who was at a department reception."
...
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the next chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has asked his staff also to look into the matter.

"Inspectors general offer important checks and balances on federal agencies," Grassley said. "They have to be isolated from politics to function effectively. Any efforts to compromise their independence are wrong."

Senior HHS staff members said postponement decisions are left to auditors, and granted only for reasons like illnesses, computer breakdowns and a reluctance to interfere with other current investigations, they said.

"I can't recall being involved in any decision when we put one off or postponed one for any reason," said Patrick McFarland, inspector general for the Office of Personnel Management. McFarland is currently the government's longest serving inspector general at 12 years.
...
Florida's pension fund has drawn other headlines during Bush's tenure. The State Board of Administration, which runs the fund, has been under scrutiny because it invested and lost $300 million in the bankrupt energy marketing company, Enron."

Thus far, it appears the wire story has been picked up by only the Naples and Bradenton papers.
6:52 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]