WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama plans to announce Monday a former Secret Service agent who helped expose lobbyists' corruption at the Interior Department as his pick to oversee the $787 billion economic stimulus plan.
Obama is set to name Earl Devaney as chairman of the new Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board, an administration official said Sunday. Vice President Joe Biden also will be given a role coordinating oversight of stimulus spending.
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Devaney, the inspector general of the Interior Department, helped turn up disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's dealings at the department. The department's No. 2 official, Steven Griles, pleaded guilty to charges he lied during congressional testimony based in part on Devaney's investigation.
Official: Obama to name former Abramoff investigator to oversee $787B stimulus spending
A little background on IG Devaney you may find of interest:
US: Federal Oil Officials Accused In Sex and Drug Scandal
by STEPHEN POWER, Wall Street Journal
September 11th, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Employees of the federal agency that last year collected more than $11 billion in royalties from oil and gas companies broke government rules and created a "culture of ethical failure" by allegedly accepting gifts from and having sex with industry representatives, the Interior Department's top watchdog said Wednesday.
A report by the Interior Department's inspector general, Earl Devaney, described a party atmosphere at the Denver office of the Minerals Management Service, a bureau of the department. Some employees of the office, which houses the department's royalty-in-kind program, "frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sexual relations with oil and gas company representatives," the report said, adding that "sexual relationships with prohibited sources cannot, by definition, be arms-length."
The report also says that between 2002 and 2006, 19 employees in the agency's royalty-in-kind program, roughly a third of the program's total staff, had "socialized with and had received a wide array of gifts from oil and gas companies with whom the employees were conducting official business."
Mr. Devaney's blistering assessment spotlights the agency as Congress and the presidential candidates weigh proposals to expand offshore drilling. "We discovered a culture of substance abuse and promiscuity," his report said.
Interesting choice, if true. Certainly would confirm a commitment to transparency.