Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Barbara Milkulki, D-Md., wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday scolding him for stymying investigations by the Justice Department’s Inspector General, who is tasked with providing independent oversight of the agency.
“We have learned the Department’s Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, is required to make a formal request to the Attorney General in order to access certain records or other information that may be required in order to conduct an audit or investigation,” the letter said.
In a Senate hearing today on the Department of Justice’s 2015 budget request, Shelby urged Holder to get out of the way and allow the Inspector General to do his job.
“Since arriving in 2012, Mr. Horowitz has worked diligently to investigate a myriad of trouble spots,” Shelby said. “Throughout the course of those investigations however, the IG encountered a significant roadblock. Specifically, he has not been provided unfettered access to materials essential to ongoing investigations and audits unless the Attorney General approves it.”
Holder’s actions appear to contradict the Inspector General Act of 1978, which states that the Inspector General should “have access to all records, reports, audits, reviews, documents, papers, recommendations, or other material available to the applicable establishment which relate to programs and operations with respect to which that Inspector General has responsibilities under this Act.”
Shelby also blasted Holder for including “pet projects” for the Obama Administration in the Justice Department’s budget.
“The 2015 budget request for the Department of Justice totals $27.4 billion,” Shelby noted. “I am concerned however, that while the Department’s 2015 budget purports to ‘recognize the multifaceted nature of the Department’s work,’ it fails to truly prioritize anything but the Administration’s pet projects.”
Shelby pointed out numerous Obama Administration initiatives and grant programs that take priority over law enforcement and national security priorities, which Shelby said are “the main mission of the Department.”
The Department of Justice’s Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Proposal includes $500 million in cuts in “Miscellaneous Program and Administrative Reductions,” which won’t be specifically identified until the funds have been appropriated. Those cuts will make room in the budget for the Obama Administration’s favored special projects.
“A budget proposal that uses smoke and mirrors does not provide a stable foundation to safeguard national security, reduce violent crime, prosecute criminals, or support our state and local partners,” Shelby said. “In fact, it calls into question the Department’s commitment to those requirements.”
We will update this post shortly with video of Attorney General Holder’s responses.
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