NASA's Inspector General Probed

Cobb, a 1986 graduate of George Washington University's law school, became NASA's inspector general on April 22, 2002, after working for a year as an ethics lawyer in the office of the White House General Counsel.

Under the Inspector General Act of 1978, the president appoints independent officials to monitor Cabinet departments and larger federal agencies through audits and investigations. Cobb is among four of 11 inspectors general appointed by Bush who previously worked in the White House, and one of nine with no audit experience.

The complaints against Cobb began to surface early last year, according to NASA research pilot Robert Rivers, when Nelson's office was contacted regarding allegations of retaliation against Rivers in a dispute over aircraft safety at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.

In early 2003, Rivers had refused to fly Langley's modified Boeing 757 research jet, saying NASA management had not addressed safety concerns that he and other pilots had raised over the previous 18 months. He was reassigned and eventually grounded. On Feb. 22, 2005, Cobb notified Rivers he was closing the IG's investigation without taking action.

The Hampton Roads Daily Press detailed these events in an article last April. Nelson forwarded it to Michael D. Griffin, NASA's new administrator, suggesting in a letter that Cobb "may have downplayed" the case "and may even have been involved in a cover-up." Nelson also wrote that "on occasion" he had heard of "similar allegations regarding the NASA IG."

Griffin replied in July that his office had examined Cobb's report and had not found "any indication that the findings were unreasonable." Griffin's office declined to comment for this article.

Documents examined by The Post showed that throughout 2005, Nelson's office was receiving complaints against Cobb from employees and former employees of NASA. Some came from whistle-blowers such as Rivers, but the vast majority were sent in by current and former employees of the IG's office.

The Post was contacted by several of these individuals and saw many of the documents that eventually reached the Integrity Committee. Some complainants spoke on the record; others asked to remain anonymous, saying they feared retaliation.

Many described Cobb as abusive to subordinates and dismissive of their abilities. "He would cut people off, get up and leave during meetings," said Dan Samoviski, who retired in 2004 as deputy IG director for audits at NASA headquarters. "Personally, I just think he created a hostile work environment."

Dennis Coldren, the retired manager of space station and space shuttle audits, was one of several who described Cobb as a "bully," and several sources also said they believed Cobb was too friendly with then-NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. They said Cobb suppressed audits, stopped investigations and otherwise edited IG activities to avoid embarrassing the agency or its leadership.

O'Keefe, now chancellor of Louisiana State University, acknowledged that Cobb would brief him on his cases, but said he had an "arm's length" relationship with Cobb and described him as "extremely professional."

"At the beginning, I said, 'Look, there's two ways to do the IG role,' " O'Keefe recalled in a telephone interview. " 'There's the "gotcha" role, and I've done that. But you can also tell me about the problem as it's happening, so we can pay attention to it.' That was exceedingly helpful, and if that's interpreted as being too close, so be it. I think that's being constructive."