By Byron Tau And Peter Nicholas
The State Department had no permanent inspector general--the
lead watchdog charged with uncovering misconduct and waste--during
Hillary Clinton's entire tenure as secretary, leaving in place an
acting inspector who had close ties to State Department
leadership.
President Barack Obama didn't put forward a nominee to lead the
inspector general's office while Mrs. Clinton led the State
Department, making it the only agency with a presidentially
appointed inspector general that had neither a confirmed nor
nominated head watchdog during that full time period.
Five months after Mrs. Clinton left office, Mr. Obama nominated
a permanent inspector general, who was confirmed by the Senate
three months later.
The lack of a confirmed inspector general raises questions about
oversight of the department under Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton. The
department has been criticized for its failure to gather and
archive the email records of Mrs. Clinton and other officials and
for responses to public-record requests that lawmakers and advocacy
groups say were insufficient, including its response to requests
for information from a congressional panel investigating the 2012
terror attack in Benghazi, Libya.
The vacancy in the top watchdog spot left the State Department
with no confirmed inspector general for more than five years, the
longest gap since the position was created in 1957, according to
department records. While other agencies have had no permanent
inspectors general at various points in recent years, some of those
vacancies were due to a lack of confirmation by the Senate on
nominees put forward by Mr. Obama.
Is isn't clear whether Mrs. Clinton had any role in the lack of
a nomination.
The acting inspector general, Harold Geisel, had served in a
variety of roles, including U.S. ambassador to Mauritius in Bill
Clinton's administration and in a State Department job under
Richard Nixon. Because he was a longtime foreign-service officer,
Mr. Geisel was banned by law from becoming permanent inspector
general, a prohibition that Congress put in place to ensure that
oversight is conducted by people who don't have ties to the
departments they investigate.
"It's a convenient way to prevent oversight," said Matthew
Harris, a University of Maryland University College professor who
has worked in law enforcement and researches inspectors general.
Acting inspectors general "don't feel empowered; they don't have
the backing of their people. They're in a position where they could
be removed at any moment, " Mr. Harris said.
Rep. Ed Royce (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, said Mr. Geisel's role as a Clinton
administration ambassador undercut his status as a watchdog.
"We did not believe he could be truly independent. We raised the
issue that the lack of a permanent IG was a problem," Mr. Royce
said. He said an independent inspector would likely have uncovered
and raised objections to Mrs. Clinton's use of a private email
account and computer server for official correspondence.
"A permanent IG would have objected to her efforts to circumvent
congressional oversight by keeping her emails off the books," Mr.
Royce said.
A spokesman for Mrs. Clinton, Nick Merrill, said Mr. Geisel "was
a career official spanning Republican and Democratic
administrations alike, independent and hard-hitting. As it should
be." A spokesman for the State Department said Mr. Geisel led a
team that "conducted more investigations between 2007 and 2012 than
the IG had under his predecessor."
The White House declined to elaborate on reason for the lack of
an appointment. A White House spokesman said the inspector
general's office issued more than 450 reports while there was no
permanent head in place.
Mr. Geisel, assuming his tenure would be short-lived, said he
did little to decorate his office. "I never even put up a picture,"
he said in an interview. After his five-year stint as watchdog, the
State Department gave him a paid temporary assignment reviewing
staffing conditions at outposts in Egypt and Nairobi, Mr. Geisel
said.
Designed to be isolated from political pressure, inspectors
general are tasked with uncovering waste, fraud, abuse and
mismanagement of federal agencies. The State Department office has
a large staff that conducts audits and investigations.
During Mr. Geisel's tenure, members of Congress and independent
watchdog groups raised questions about his distance from top
leadership at the State Department.
The nonpartisan Project On Government Oversight said Mr. Geisel
had an unduly close relationship with Patrick F. Kennedy, the
department's undersecretary for management, a top post. In a 2010
letter to the White House, the group cited friendly emails between
the two as evidence of a close relationship, as well as the fact
that Mr. Geisel recused himself from an investigation into a
situation involving Mr. Kennedy at one point during his tenure.
Asked whether he believed he was compromised in his ability to
do his job, Mr. Geisel said: "My work absolutely speaks for
itself." He described his mission as "telling the truth that needs
to be told, which may not be the truth that people want to
hear."
One person who worked in the office from 2009 to 2013, Evelyn
Klemstine, spoke highly of Mr. Geisel. "I personally never felt
that he inhibited any of the audits that we did," she said.
Write to Peter Nicholas at peter.nicholas@wsj.com
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