Department of Justice officials paid $15 million for expert witnesses who weren’t needed by prosecutors or were brought into cases without court dates, according to a government watchdog.
The same officials spent another $10 million involving 39 expert witness contracts that were “vague” or “ambiguous or silent about the circumstances presented in the particular case,” according to a report made public Wednesday by the Justice Department’s inspector general.
The expert witness program began in 1999.
Department officials admitted the fund “was governed by a loose array of guidance” and “maintained on an ad hoc basis,” the IG report said.
In 43 of the 74 cases examined by the IG, expert witnesses were hired “before or without a court docket date” as required by the program, the auditors found.
In another 31 cases “there was no indication that expert testimony was anticipated,” or the cases were outside the federal judicial system.
The IG also found that expert witnesses rang up $24,000 in excess hotel charges. In 26 instances, expert witnesses flew first class in violation of program rules.
The department’s antitrust division was the biggest offender in hiring expert witnesses when there was no evidence a trial was necessary. The division paid $8.4 million for witnesses who were not needed, the auditors found.
The expert witness fund does not permit payment for the use of private investigators. But Justice Department lawyers retained them seven times.
Justice Department officials also paid $1.2 million for legal proceedings that were not part of the U.S. judicial system.
Four of the cases involved a dispute between the United States and Canada that was heard in the London Court of International Arbitration.
The IG stated that “the LCIA is not linked to, or associated with, the government of any jurisdiction, but rather is a private, not-for-profit company.”
In another instance, Justice officials paid $138,000 for linguists even though the program is not supposed to pay for them.
Each year, the Obama administration requests new funds for the program even though it runs surpluses that carry over into the next fiscal year.
In 2014, for instance, the administration asked for $270 million in new funds for a program that enjoyed a surplus of $210 million in unused funds.
