Inspector General Brian Miller recommended that the Department of Justice (DOJ) file criminal charges against General Services Administration officials that he investigated.
“We recommended criminal charges,” Miller told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today when discussing his referral of the GSA case to the Department of Justice.
Congressional investigators agreed. After Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., recommended an “indictment” for whichever GSA official “tipp[ed] off a competitor to another bid,” House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., agreed that Gowdy’s “outrage” reflected the “bipartisan” view of the whole committee.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, R-Md., said that the GSA’s Jeff Neely “repeatedly violat[ed] federal travel and procurement rules” and “allow[ed] his wife and other nongovernment officials to participate in these events at taxpayer expense.”
The inspector general said that Jeff Neely, the GSA official who organized the $800,000 Las Vegas conference in 2010, engaged in “bullying” of employees who “crossed” him. Miller recalled a confidential witness against Neely who was “extremely afraid that even in her new job she would experience retaliation.”
Miller opposed the idea of Congress granting immunity in exchange for Neely’s testimony, who invoked his Fifth Amendment rights not to testify today. “I believe that the criminal justice system should run its course and if any charges are brought against Mr. Neely he should defend himself,” he said.
